Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days
by ashez2ashes
Summary: Ryouga saves Ukyou's life, and is nearly killed in the process. What follows forces Ryoga to reconsider his place in the world...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma, despite my many attempts to impersonate Rumiko Takihashi at the bank. I think they were tipped off by the whole 'not being Japanese' thing. ^_^  
  
C&C makes me write faster. I also get kind of depressed if I don't get any comments. Helpful criticism is appreciated too. Flames I find morbidly funny. Complements make me want to write. Nothing.... makes me sad =(  
  
Contact Info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/  
  
----  
  
Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days  
  
Prologue  
  
----  
  
The sun was setting on the Nerima district, bathing the town in a soft orange-red light. Night would soon fall, bringing with it climatic martial arts battles, crazy fiancée chasing women, and many other strange creatures that called Nerima their homes while lowering (or raising, depending on who you ask) the property values of Nerima.  
  
Ukyou Kuonji walked happily down a sidewalk on her way to meet her Ranchan. The cool spring air was slightly damp and felt invigorating as the wind blew. The cherry blossoms were just starting to bloom and occasionally dotted the sidewalk. She stopped a moment to admire one as it slowly made its chaotic journey to earth. It fluttered to the ground and joined its brethren on the newly paved sidewalk.   
  
She smiled.  
  
It was such a beautiful day! Everything was going great. She had made a killing at Ucchan's today, and now she was on her way to give her Ranchan an especially made okonomiyaki. Extra work had been put into it. The toppings had been applied lovingly and with care. She had even written "Ranchan plus Ucchan Forever!" on the top with sauce. She doubted he would actually see the writing before he inhaled it, but it never hurt to try. The warm box clutched next to her chest felt good... like a hug from an old friend.   
  
Of course, she didn't have many old friends, but the metaphor was still nice.  
  
"Would Ranchan's embrace feel like this?" Her hand clutched the takeout box tightly.  
  
This time she was going to show him that they belonged together. That bimbo Shampoo wouldn't stand a chance! Ranchan can barely even understand the hussy! Feh...   
  
And Kodachi? Ha! That was laughable. He was afraid of the insane gymnast. That wasn't exactly a basis for a good relationship. She couldn't really blame Ranma either. The girl was CREEPY. She'd end up in prison for attempted murder before she would end up in a wedding dress!  
  
And Akane well... sure he was nice to her at times. But that was just him being nice in general! He only tolerates the engagement because he believes strongly in family honor!   
  
Ukyou smiled wider. Ranchan was like that! He was such a good guy. TOO good of a guy sometimes. He let that gorilla girl beat up on him all the time because he was too much of a gentleman to do anything about it. Well, Ukyou wasn't going to allow it to continue! She was NOT going to let him get stuck in a loveless marriage! She was engaged to him too! It was just as good!   
  
She never got in fights with him and they didn't call each other names. How could everyone not see how perfect it would be? She was going to save him and they'd live happily ever after.  
  
Ukyou stopped abruptly and a troubled expression crossed her face. The wind lifted up her hair and spread it in tendrils across her shoulders. Cherry blossoms rained on her from overhead, a few got caught up in the long chestnut strands of her hair.  
  
"Why does he do that?" She shook her head. Poor Ranchan was just getting picked on, after all. Akane insults him too; most of the time it was in retaliation. Right? Sure, Ranchan put his foot in his mouth sometimes, but no one was perfect. Akane didn't have to freak out all the time.   
  
A long sigh escaped Ukyou's lips as she gazed up at the sky.  
  
The first star of the night had twinkled into existence. She was tempted to make a wish, but quickly cast the thought away. Wishing never got anyone anything. She wasn't the type to just wait around for her prince to come. Ukyou Kuonji made her own fate.  
  
The okonomiyaki chef slid her gaze from the stars and continued her walk. She walked for several blocks in silence, listening to the wind rustle through the trees. Before she knew it, the Tendo gate stood before her. Its patched and marred surface made her smile. Ranchan could be a little hard on the scenery. She went to push the large wooden doors open...and stopped at the sound of voices.  
  
"You don't have the guts."   
  
Was that Akane? Ukyou peered through a crack in the gate.  
  
"It's not that."  
  
On the other side of the fence, Ranma and Akane stood arguing by the koi pond. They were alone. If Ukyou didn't know any better, she would have sworn they both were blushing. She squinted her eyes.   
  
"You chicken?" Akane took a step toward Ranma. The two were nearly touching. Ukyou resisted the urge to attack her right there.   
  
She slowed her breathing and tried to remain silent.  
  
"Am not! It's just..." Ranma's voice faded out. A bead of sweat rolled down his brow.  
  
"Just what?" Akane's voice took on a dangerous edge, daring him to say the next expected line.  
  
A gentle wind blew in from the west, ruffling Akane and Ranma's hair. The stars twinkled overhead and the moon cast a silver glow on the couple. Akane's threatening demeanor had disappeared. She looked on Ranma with a look of... anxiousness... hope? Ukyou wasn't sure.  
  
But she didn't like it one damn bit.   
  
Suddenly, Ranma grabbed Akane's hand and swung her toward him in one smooth, quick motion. He cupped her face with his palm; his fingertips were like the touch of a feather on her chin. His head tilted down and he pressed his lips against her's in a tender kiss. Akane's eyes widened in shock but she didn't pull away.   
  
It was all very beautiful and romantic if you weren't the girl watching all her hopes and dreams shatter like a fragile heart of glass; every shard, ripped and cut into her soul.   
  
This wasn't happening. SHE was the cute fiancée. It couldn't be happening... it just couldn't be.   
  
But she was unable to wrench her eyes away. It was like looking at a car wreck, you didn't want to, but you couldn't stop gawking... Didn't they ever need air?   
  
It was just one kiss. It should have meant nothing, but the look in their eyes... She knew that look. She would have to be blind not to know it. It was the same way she looked at Ranch--  
  
She numbly stepped away from the wall. Her face was emotionless as she turned and walked away from the home. The warm okonomiyaki next to her chest reminded her of its presence. She tossed it in a nearby trashcan with the other... trash.   
  
Ukyou Kuonji headed back to her own, empty restaurant. She didn't even feel the tears as they started to streak down her face.   
  
----  
  
Ryouga was lost. He knew it. Everyone else expected it. The world was on the proverbial straight and narrow when he was wandering around aimlessly. Hell, he suddenly getting a sense of direction would probably be one of the signs of the end of the world. His bad sense of direction was something he knew he couldn't fix. All Hibiki's had it. There wasn't any way around it. That didn't mean he had to like it, though.   
  
Every once in awhile, during the lonely winter nights, he would find himself thinking of what he would do with a sense of direction. It was a guilty pleasure. He knew it wasn't healthy to think of things that could never be, but he couldn't help it. Besides, it helped pass the long journeys. Of course, he'd go to Jusenkyou first and rid himself of the pig curse. Then he'd return and defeat Ranma. The details of how he would do that were sketchy at best, but he figured he would burn that bridge when he came to it. It couldn't be _THAT_ hard if he had a sense of direction. After that, maybe he could go to school... it had been so long since he had went to school. It would have been nice to graduate.  
  
His mother had always wanted him to get a good education.  
  
Ryouga sighed and dragged himself from his inner musings. He should know by now not to dream of the impossible. Like a crippled dreaming of walking, it hurt to dream, but it also hurt not to.  
  
The paved streets he was walking on seemed oddly out of place for the location. The lost boy looked around himself, seeing shop after identical shop pass by. He pulled his cloak closer to his body. Fellow pedestrians gave him a wide berth. He knew it was chilly in the mountains but... sidewalks? What will they think of next?  
  
A familiar face passed by his line of sight, making him blink.   
  
What was Ukyou doing in the mountains?   
  
He waved at her to get her attention. "Hey Ukyou!" His voice went unnoticed as she kept walking.   
  
Ryouga frowned. If he followed her, she might lead him to her restaurant. In the last few days, all he had eaten were mushrooms. At least, they were the normal kind. The thought of a warm okonomiyaki really appealed to him. He couldn't let her out of his sight.  
  
"Ukyou wait up!"  
  
Her head was cast down; the long strands of her hair fell across her face. She took a random direction, not caring or paying attention to where she was going. Ryouga started to jog to catch up with her. He almost reached her when she turned and walked into the road.  
  
"Idiot, get out of the road!" Ryouga heard a car's horn. He turned his head and saw a semi truck barreling down the road at high speed. Ukyou didn't look up as the truck's lights illuminated her. Without thinking, he ran and pushed her out of the way. The last thing he saw was the grill of the semi coming towards his face...  
  
----  
  
Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days  
  
Chapter 1  
  
----  
  
"Heh, I can't believe the boy's still alive."  
  
"Yeah, he should be a smear on the pavement from the speed the semi was going."  
  
What was going on? Why was everything so dark?  
  
"Suction."  
  
"There you go doctor."  
  
Where were the voices coming from?  
  
"I hear he's one of those Nerima martial artists."  
  
"Well that explains a lot. Although, I bet he hadn't trained for that tractor tailor."  
  
"I wouldn't talk Akira. I heard he saved some girl's life."  
  
Where the hell was he now?!  
  
"Doctor his pulse is weakening."  
  
"Damn it!"  
  
"He's flatlined!"  
  
"Give me the paddles! . . . Clear!"  
  
Ryouga was confused and had no idea where he was. Usually nothing would be out of the ordinary with that, but he felt... different. Something wasn't right. He felt so lightheaded. It was almost like he was rising... higher and higher. It was a weird sense of detachment, not really being pulled or lifted just... going up. All around him was empty blackness, but he thought he saw a speck of light in the distance. Was that his Uncle Haru standing by that river? Nah couldn't be... Uncle Haru was dead... or lost in the Bermuda Triangle like his mom always insisted.  
  
"Again! Clear!"  
  
He rose even higher. The light was almost at his fingertips now. Did he have fingertips? Oh well... closer and closer he came until suddenly... he stopped.  
  
"We got him back doctor!"  
  
Ryouga opened his eyes. He was in some kind of operating room. Weird, he'd never gotten lost in one of those before. He looked across the room where some poor sap was being operated on. The guy was a bloody mess, like he was hit by a speeding truck or something. Doctors hovered over his prone form cutting, sucking, poking, and lots of other things that made Ryouga feel slightly queasy.  
  
The lost boy turned and walked quietly out of the room. He didn't want to disturb them and have them accidentally cut out something they weren't supposed to.  
  
He walked through a side door and picked a random direction. Periodically, he passed doctors and patients as he walked through the wallpapered hallways. No one stopped him or asked him why he was there. It didn't bother him much. He was used to indifferent people. Taking a right, he entered a small waiting area.  
  
Akane, Ranma, Ukyou, Genma, and the rest of the Tendo family sat in the waiting area. Ukyou held her face in her hand, choking down sobs. Akane tried to console her, but she was worse for wear herself. Ranma stood in front of a large bay window silently gazing out at the stars. His expression was for once, unreadable.   
  
The rest of the occupants sat quietly, wringing their hands. Well, except Nabiki, she was reading a magazine in the corner. Free manga was nothing to be scoffed at, regardless of the situation.  
  
"Hey everyone, what's going on?" Ryouga scratched his head.  
  
"He was always such a nice young man." Soun's voice cut through the silence of the room, seeming to not notice Ryouga.  
  
"Stop saying _WAS_ dad." Akane glared at her father. "He's going to be fine. I know it." She looked up at Ranma for support, but he continued to look out of the window silently.  
  
Ryouga raised an eyebrow. Whoa, did someone get hurt? Everyone in the Tendo family that Ryouga knew was here. Well, Ranma's mother wasn't there, but she wasn't a man as far as he knew. Maybe Akane had a cousin he didn't know about?  
  
Kasumi sat her knitting down. "You're right father. He was such a good friend to Akane."  
  
Eh? Friend? Akane has guy friends? Damn it, there better not be another rival for her affections out there!  
  
"Not you too Kasumi!"  
  
"Oh my... I'm sorry Akane." Kasumi blushed and resumed her knitting.   
  
Genma, for once in human form, cleared his throat. "I'll say this much, he always kept the boy on his toes. He was almost a worthy opponent for him."  
  
Eh? Rival? Did Mousse become Akane's friend while Ryouga wasn't paying attention?  
  
"He IS a worthy opponent." Ranma's voice was low and confident. All eyes turned to regard him. It was the first thing he had said all night.  
  
Ryouga shook his head. Couldn't be Mousse than. That vaguely sounded like respect coming from Ranma. Who the heck would Ranma respect? Did Buddha personally befriend Akane or something?  
  
"And pop, stop talkin about him like he's already gone. He's a lot tougher than he looks. Heh, I'm more worried about the semi. He's gonna be ok." He met Akane's eyes. "Right Akane?"  
  
Akane nodded and smiled. Everyone else was too busy with their own thoughts to notice the way her eyes lit up when he spoke her name. But Ryouga did.  
  
And he didn't like it one damn bit.   
  
Ryouga was about to ask them what was wrong again when a nurse walked into the room.  
  
"Excuse me..." An older nurse, her dark hair shot with streaks of gray, held a clip board in her hand. She cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.   
  
Various degrees of hope and dread spread across the faces of those gathered. Except for Nabiki, who was busy stuffing a couple of manga books into her purse. And not the phonebook kind either, some grief stricken suckers had left graphic novels behind! She could get a couple yen from them if she pawned them at second hand book stores. Heh heh...  
  
"Is... he ok?" Ukyou asked softly hardly daring to know the truth. What if he was dead? Dead because he tried to save her... She didn't even like him very much! Why did the idiot have to do it? They weren't even friends. She didn't know what she would do... if he...   
  
"I don't know miss. I just need the names of the next of kin and a way to contact them." She held a form up expectantly.   
  
Everyone looked at each other for answers. Silence hung in the air until finally, Genma turned toward Ranma. "Boy do you know the kid's parents?"  
  
"No pop we..." he trailed off.  
  
"...never really bothered to ask," Akane finished softly for him.  
  
"Does anyone know a phone number? An address?" The nurse turned back toward Ranma.  
  
"No, I never knew his phone number. I can get to his house but... that's not going to help you contact the Hibikis."  
  
"So you're telling me if this boy dies I will have no way to contact the next of kin? What about the paperwork?" The overweight nurse put her hands on her hips. She hated when people made her work harder. A dead kid without parents on the forms would be a hell of a lot more paperwork. She only had a few months till retirement and she didn't want to have to deal with this crap.  
  
"Shut up! He's not going to die!" Ukyou stood and glared icy daggers at the nurse. The nurse shrugged, nonplussed by Ukyou's outburst. Stupid emotional people. They thought they were the only ones with problems.  
  
Ryouga was confused, but he was used to it.  
  
Why was Ukyou so upset? Did she know Akane's cousin too? He must be one hell of a playboy to get Ukyou too. Ryouga didn't like the guy already. Hopefully, he would get well so Ryouga could punch him a couple times.  
  
"Well, I suppose if no one knows we're going to have to ask him when he wakes up." The nurse sighed melodramatically and turned to leave the room, clipboard in hand.  
  
"Hello?" Ryouga stepped out from the hallway and into the middle of the room. No one turned around or even twitched. "Damn it! Someone pay attention to me!" He waved his hands above his head for emphasis.   
  
What the hell was going on? Why was everyone ignoring him?! It was enough to give a guy complexes!  
  
"_IF_ he wakes up." Ukyou sighed miserably and sat down. She hugged her knees to her chest and tried to get her tears under control. She was tough; tough girls don't cry.   
  
Ryouga walked toward Ranma. He would MAKE Ranma notice him. A nice kick to the head ought to do it. Ryouga pivoted on his heel to deliver a little wallflower justice... or he would have if he hadn't passed through him. Ryouga landed on the floor in a heap.   
  
A shiver ran through Ranma's body. The pigtailed boy idly rolled down his sleeves and wondered about the air conditioning as Ryouga lay shocked on the floor.  
  
"That idiot he didn't have to do that. Why did he do it? It's all my fault." Ukyou buried her head in her knees. Akane put a comforting arm around her.  
  
"Ukyou, it wasn't your fault."   
  
Ukyou's head rose and she gazed at Akane with haunted eyes.  
  
Ryouga really wished Ukyou would stop crying. She looked so sad. He hated seeing girls cry. Stupid playboy cousin, making everyone worry! And what did she mean by 'it was all her fault'? Did she drop a grill on him?  
  
"Then whose fault was it? Huh? Whose fault was it?! He saved MY life..." She stood up and clenched her fists. Her eyes closed tightly trying to suppress her tears. She didn't want pity from Akane. Ranma walked over to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Ucchan calm down. I know Ryouga. He's too stubborn to let something like this kill him."  
  
...Ryouga? He was the one hurt?! And... Ranma was defending him?!  
  
"I've hit him a lot harder than this before and he still came back for more." Ranma smirked confidently.   
  
Ryouga gaped from the floor. He had sacrificed himself for Ukyou? What the hell had he been thinking?!  
  
"You... really think so?" Ukyou wiped the newly shed tears off her face with the back of her hand.   
  
He couldn't believe it. Maybe Ranma wasn't as big a jerk as he had thought...  
  
"Besides, didn't he make that vow that he wouldn't rest until he defeated me? And you know what that means."  
  
"What?" Ukyou sniffled.  
  
"He's going to live forever!"  
  
The corner of Ukyou's mouth turned up into a slight smile. "I suppose you're right."  
  
HEY! Damn Saotome! Ryouga had to live. There was no way he was going to let him get away with that statement!  
  
"And besides he's..." Ranma looked thoughtful for a moment as realization dawned on his face. "He's sort of my friend. I'm not going to let him die."  
  
"...Damn it Ranma! Stop confusing me!" Ryouga jumped to his feet and shook his invisible fist at Ranma.  
  
"I guess you're right Ranma." Ukyou's small smile turned into a full blown grin.  
  
Why was everyone so broken up? Maybe they didn't hate him as much as he thought they did? What had happened? Ryouga couldn't remember but...everything seemed to be ok now.   
  
Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light as the scene before him began to fade away. He tried to fight it, but it was an uphill battle. He felt as if he was being ripped into two; almost as if he was existing in two places at once. The last image he saw before darkness claimed him was Ukyou smiling hopefully. Ryouga let go of his fight, it didn't seem so bad leaving now...   
  
----  
  
Contact Info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/ 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma 1/2. But you already knew that, didn't you?  
  
Contact info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/  
  
----  
  
Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days  
  
Chapter 2  
  
----  
  
He didn't even look like Ryouga with all those needles and machines hooked up to him.  
  
Ukyou slowly inched toward his medical bed and stood on her tiptoes to look at him from across the room. She didn't dare stray too close for fear that she might pull something out of place. Who knows what all of those machines did? She could accidentally pull something out and blood might go splurting all over the place.   
  
She inched closer and hesitantly poked a machine that was rhythmically keeping track of his heart beat. The "Beep, Beep" cut through the dead silence of the hospital room. Despite her fears, the machine didn't explode, nor did blood start splurting out like a bad slasher flick.  
  
She took another step closer.  
  
He looked so frail...  
  
Ukyou tiptoed to the foot of the bed, holding her hands behind her back. Carefully, she leaned forward and read the medical form attached to the front of the bed. All the personal information was blank save for the name: Ryouga Hibiki.  
  
She never really bothered to get to know him... had she? They couldn't even put his home phone number and address on the forms. Ranma had only remembered the general area Ryouga's house was, let alone any exact information. Would his parents be worried about him if they knew?  
  
Ukyou knew nothing about him. She just used him and threw him away. He had only been a tool for getting her "Ranchan".  
  
Her Ranchan... he had never been hers. Ranma had been Akane's all this time. Akane had gotten some kind of head start, and stolen his heart before Ukyou had even set foot in Nerima. She had been a fool... a stupid love sick fool.  
  
She cringed. Ryouga was lying broken in a hospital bed and she was whining about her lost love.  
  
That stupid idiot! Why did he save her? They weren't friends... not really. Partners in crime sometimes perhaps, but not friends. Yet... he saved her life.  
  
Ukyou stared at the lost boy's still form in the bed, trying to take in all the details. She felt like it was a sort of punishment for getting him there. He saved her, it was her fault. She should feel guilty, shouldn't she?  
  
Ryouga had a long tube running up his nose and various other equipment connected to his body. Under his left eye, a slender scar ran down his cheek. It was stitched up but would never completely heal. He would have a scar for the rest of his life.  
  
But it wasn't that bad really. It was the only scar that would be visible from the outside.   
  
Ukyou vowed that she would tell him it made him look like one of those guys from action manga comics. It was like a battle scar! Of course, it made him look like the BAD GUY of those stories, but there was no reason she had to elaborate.  
  
A vow wasn't a bad idea... Ukyou clenched her fists and made a silent promise. She was going to repay him. She wasn't sure how, or if she could ever fully repay him, but she was going to try. It wasn't clear to her what she could do, save be his friend, and give him discounted okonomiyaki for the rest of his life. He seemed like he needed a friend and who could turn down free food?  
  
She walked over to his bed and touched his hand.  
  
It felt clammy and almost cold. Her head tilted spilling her chestnut hair across her face and shoulders.  
  
"Jackass, you didn't have to do that." She whispered closed her eyes tightly and watched the patterns behind her eyelids.   
  
If he woke up...no WHEN he woke up she was going to repay him. Somehow, someway. She let go of his hand and took a step back... and tripped over a power cord.  
  
The beeping heart monitor crashed to the ground violently. The sound echoed through the quiet halls of the hospital. The steady beeping of the monitor stopped to be replaced by a very dead 'BEEEEEEEEEEEEEE'. Ukyou looked down at her handiwork and had a mini heart attack.  
  
"Oh my god I broke him!" She looked around desperately. "Whatta I do?! Whatta I do?! Nurse! Somebody! Help! I broke him! I--" She stopped.  
  
Ryouga was looking up at her through blurry, bloodshot green eyes. He blinked rapidly in confusion.  
  
"Where the hell am I now?"  
  
"Ryouga! You're awake! I didn't break you! Everybody! He's awake!" Ukyou glomped onto the still vertigo gripped Ryouga. For once, his confusion worked for him helping him not notice the cute girl glomped onto him, and preventing himself from losing much needed blood.  
  
Ranma and Akane appeared outside the door. The two looked worse for wear. And was that lipstick on Ranma's face? No, it was better not to think about things like that right now. Ukyou disengaged herself from Ryouga.   
  
"See, Akane what did I tell you?"  
  
"Yes, Ranma, he woke up just because of YOU."  
  
Ryouga blinked again. His eyes were still trying to adjust. His throat was really dry and raw too.   
  
A doctor rushed into the room. His long white coat swished as he walked. His dark eyes widened in surprise when he saw that the patient was awake. Damn, he'd lost another bet.  
  
"What are you people doing here? You're going to have to leave." The doctor ushered a crestfallen Ranma and Akane out of the room.  
  
"Aww man, I wanted to ask him what getting hit by a semi felt like." Ranma grumbled. Akane punched him in the ribs as they two walked out of the room.  
  
"Ow Akane, I was just kidding."  
  
The doctor walked up to Ukyou and put a hand on her arm. "You're going to have to leave too, Miss." He glanced at the broken monitor. "What happened?"  
  
"Oh, yes well uh Ryouga knocked it down when he woke up! He's pretty strong you know." She laughed nervously. "I better leave, too." She started to dash out of the room.  
  
"Ukyou...wait." Ryouga coughed and lifted up a hand weakly. She turned and met his gaze from across the room. "It wasn't your fault."   
  
Ukyou's eye's widened in shock as she was escorted out of the room.  
  
H-how did he know about that?  
  
----  
  
Ryouga could never remember spending this much time in one place his entire life. Not that he could go anywhere. With his broken leg, broken arm, concussion, and cracked ribs he wasn't going anywhere soon. The ribs hurt the worse. He could live with the rest if his ribs didn't twinge painfully every time he took a breath.   
  
Truth be told, he had been hurt before. Never this severely, but he wasn't a stranger to hospital rooms. The dull medical smell and endless yellow linoleum were driving him insane. It was so tedious just sitting in one place. The food sucked. The television sucked. He could practically feel his muscles turning to mush. It would take months just to regain everything that he had lost.  
  
He looked over his room. It wasn't very much, just the bare essentials. There were a few balloons and flowers, mostly from Ukyou and Akane. Ranma had bought him a pair of pajamas. Ryouga was touched by his sentiment until he saw what was on them... PIGS. He didn't know how Ranma had found yellow pajamas with little black pigs on them, but he had. Never before had he hated an article of clothing so much.  
  
He had to get out of bed soon or he'd go crazy!  
  
Ryouga had no idea where his parents were. He hadn't been able to contact them. They must have lost their cell phones again. It didn't really matter much to him. They never would have found him if they even bothered to try. Besides, the parent he really wanted to talk to was unavailable. Luckily, Ryouga had remembered the Hibiki Emergency Bank Fund which was more than enough to cover his medical bills.   
  
Other than the balloons and flowers there were also cards from the others from Nerima. Reaching over, he picked one out of the pile and read it.  
  
[Shampoo: "Thanks" for saving stupid spatula girl! Competition almost eliminated! Shampoo come see you after you get all better!]  
  
Ryouga frowned and set down Shampoo's card. She sure knew how to cheer a guy up. Who knew they made cards with crossbones? He picked up Cologne's next.   
  
[Cologne: I knew you'd pull through. You BETTER recover. No who has been trained in the baksai tenkestu can be taken down by some mere automobile! 5 thousand years of Amazon history are riding on you boy!]  
  
What's the old ghoul going to do? Beat me up in the afterlife?   
  
He discarded the card and picked up another one. It was written in very formal script with a blue lightning bolt imprinted on the front. It looked more like a challenge letter than a card.  
  
[Kuno: AH HA HA! Heaven has wreaked its vengeance upon you, evil sorcerer friend of Saotome! Feel every breath of your anguish as penance for your harassing of the pigtailed girl!]  
  
His uninjured hand clenched tightly. He knew how he was going to get back in shape now.  
  
[Nabiki: I hope you get better, even though it is nice not having you and Ranma destroying the dojo.]  
  
That one wasn't that bad. Ryouga reached over to set the card down when a slip of paper fell out.   
  
"What's this? ... A BILL FOR THE CARD?!" He crumpled the bill up and threw it in a trashcan. There was no way he was going to pay for his own get well card!  
  
He set the last of the cards down and picked up a box. A delivery man had just brought it a few hours previous. It had no name on it, but the return address was "Tendo Dojo". His eyes widened in surprise.   
  
Akane must have gotten him something!   
  
He hurriedly tore open the wrapping and peered inside--  
  
"PRETTY NURSE LADIES!"  
  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"   
  
Happosai jumped out of the box and ran out the door. Screams could be heard from outside as Ryouga stared blankly in shock. After several minutes, he regained motor capacities and lay back in his bed. The sounds of women screaming and arming themselves with deadly mops could be heard outside his door, nothing that unusual; same old same old.  
  
There had to be some way to get out of his room. Even just a little walk down the hallway would be better than nothing.  
  
There was a loud boom as if a bomb went off outside. Nurses roaring in very un-nurse like ways echoed through the hallways.  
  
"The drudgery is killing me!" He felt so weak; rotting here in this hospital bed. He knew Ranma was laughing at him. Who knew how he had been treating Akane while he was away!   
  
He looked down at his pig pajamas in disgust. He wouldn't normally have accepted them, but the hospital gowns with the opening in the back were too embarrassing. Besides, his other cloths were completely ruined. Ryouga dreaded having to get new cloths. It always took him days to find a clothing store.  
  
The time had only been made bearable by Akane and Ukyou's visits. Ukyou was being so nice... it was weird. She didn't even seem like the same person, like she was possessed by aliens. But alien Ukyou was a lot nicer than normal Ukyou, so he wasn't complaining.   
  
Ryouga sighed. It would be nice to have a friend... But who was he kidding? She just pitied him; probably felt like she owed him or something.  
  
He scanned the room again; looking for some way of escape. His gaze rested on a walker his older roommate used. He was gone and wouldn't be back for a few hours. It'd be hard, but it could work.   
  
He pulled one of the balloons toward him and cut the ribbon off with his teeth. Experimentally, he twirled it and snapped it taunt like a gymnastics ribbon. Ryouga grinned like an idiot.   
  
"Hah! Ranma's not the only one who knows how to improvise!"   
  
He snapped the ribbon toward the walker. It wrapped around the metal base easily. With a flick of his wrist, Ryouga pulled it toward him. He then gently took the IV out of his arm. Pain killers... who needs them? That stupid thing had been stuck in his arm for hours. It had to have done its work by now.  
  
He swung one leg over the bed and then the other. Ignoring the twanging in his ribs, he gripped the metal sides of the walker and hauled himself up with one hand. Every muscle, tendon, and bone protested at this injustice, but Ryouga shrugged it off.  
  
It was slow going at first, one leg in front of the other, stop, breath, and start again. Every step was agony. Every breath was filled with pain. After what seemed like an eternity, he reached the doorway and promptly--  
  
tripped on a power cord.  
  
"Gaaaaaah!" Ryouga crumpled to the floor in a heap. His mind erupted into a roaring avalanche of pain. Every fiber of his body made itself known. Tears threatened to spill over his cheeks, but he held them back with sheer will power. He was strong. He wasn't going to cry. Besides, what would Ranma think if he saw him now?   
  
He up righted the walker and brought himself to his feet. Walking slowly and carefully, he exited the room.  
  
Ryouga, the lost boy, the guy that can't even make it to his own house, decided to take a short walk...  
  
----  
  
Ukyou, Ranma, and Akane walked through the large double doors of the hospital complex. The girls each held a gift basket in their arms. The baskets were almost identical except for the boxed okonomiyaki in Ukyou's.  
  
"Does the hospital seem a little... messy to you?" Akane glanced over her shoulder. She was pretty sure file cabinets weren't usually used as barricades.   
  
Ranma shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe Ryouga went for a little walk and starting punching holes in things to get back to his room."  
  
"That's not funny Ranma." Akane grimaced as the image of the hospital reduced to ruins flashed across her mind.  
  
The trio weaved through various doctors, visitors, and patients on their way to the third floor. Normally they would have just jumped there, but the sight of three teenagers jumping stories had disturbed a few of the heart patients, so they had been told to use the elevator like normal people. Eventually the teenagers reached the elevator and stepped into it. Ranma pushed the button for the third floor.  
  
"I still don't see why we have to take the long way." Ranma rolled back and forth on his heels impatiently.  
  
"Someone had a heart attack when they saw us." Ukyou swung her basket, absently. Ranma tried to meet her eyes, but she seemed intent on staring at the lights on the elevator panel. Sighing, he shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"Is that all?"  
  
Akane stepped on his foot. "Have some compassion you dummy."   
  
"What? I'm compassionate. It's one of my many skills."  
  
Akane stuck her tongue out at him. "Surrrre."  
  
"Really, Martial Arts Compassion. Help old ladies across the street attack and everything."  
  
"If you have to attack the old ladies to help them across the street, it's not considered compassion."  
  
"Oh yeah..."   
  
Several seconds passed in silence while Ukyou considered trying to claw her way out of the elevator. They were LOOKING at each other again. Finally, the elevator dinged and the door opened. Ukyou sheathed her weapon, turned, and pushed past the couple without a word. Ranma and Akane looked confused for a moment and then followed her.  
  
It was a short walk to Ryouga's room. Ukyou knocked loudly to make sure he wasn't indecent. Who knows what would happen if they accidentally walked in on him. He would probably lose a gallon of blood and go into shock.  
  
"Hey Ryouga are you naked in there?" No response was heard from the room. Ukyou looked back at her two companions questionably. "So what do we do?"  
  
Ranma responded by walking past Ukyou and going into the room.  
  
"Hey pork butt ya in here?" Ranma looked around the empty room and gulped. No Ryouga. No cute little black pig trying to rip his face off. This was not good. "Um guys... he's... gone."  
  
"What?!" Akane and Ukyou called as they came running into the room. Both beds in the room were empty, a pile of cards lay on the table, and an IV machine lay on its side. It was almost like some great struggle was fought in the room.   
  
"THAT JACKASS! What the hell was he thinking?! He's hurt. He could be in Russia by now! That idiot has no common sense! I'm surprised he has enough sense to even get out of the rain!" Ukyou nearly crushed her basket in her hand.  
  
"I don't know about that..." Ranma's eyebrow twitched.   
  
"Ranma what are we going to do?" Akane walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Ukyou tried to ignore the gesture.   
  
"I'm not sure there is anything we can do Akane when--  
  
"THAT IDIOT! DAMN IT! I'M ATTACHING A LITTLE COLLAR WITH A BELL ON THAT GUY!"  
  
"Uh... what's wrong with Ukyou?" Ryouga stood by the doorway, leaning on a walker and munching on a candy bar. Three sets of eyes swiveled his direction and blinked.  
  
"Ryouga! Wow! You made it back! I guess even you get lucky sometimes." Ranma laughed.   
  
"What do you..." Ryouga stopped mid sentence and turned pale as he realized what he had just done. He could have ended up on the other side of the country in pig pajamas and a walker.   
  
Ah hell, how could he have been so stupid! He had to think of something witty to diffuse the situation.   
  
"Uh... oops?"  
  
"OOPS?!"  
  
Ryouga gulped and stepped back as Ukyou and Akane began to emit unholy auras.  
  
What followed next constituted a new law in the hospital banning all large spatulas and mallets on hospital grounds.   
  
----  
  
Contact Info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/ 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma 1/2.   
  
C&C is nice, but comments will suffice.  
  
Contact Info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/  
  
----  
  
Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days  
  
Chapter 3  
  
----  
  
Finally, after almost a month in the hospital, Ryouga was getting discharged. He sat in the lobby, dressed in a pair of black drawstring pants and a white cut-off shirt (that Ranma had let him borrow), and filled out form after countless form.  
  
After what seemed like an eternity, he signed his signature on the last one, picked up his crutches, and hobbled over to the nurse's desk. The nurse behind the desk turned and smiled at him. Luckily, she was one of the younger, nicer ones, unlike that one nurse that kept ranting about her retirement.  
  
"Here are the release forms." He handed the stack of papers to her. She took them with a suspicious smile and air of cheerfulness.  
  
"I wish you a speedy recovery! Goodbye!"   
  
Ryouga shivered as he felt himself being watched by every member of the staff. Why was everyone on this floor anyway? He shrugged and hobbled away on his crutches as the staff stood perfectly still, smiles plastered on their faces. They waited until security confirmed over the intercom that Hibiki had indeed left the building.  
  
Several moments of silence hung in the air, until...  
  
"YES! HE'S GONE!"   
  
Cheers rose up from the crowd. Streamers fell from the ceiling and someone else hit the play button on a stereo. The floor filled with happy vibrant music as the staff of the hospital danced around the room.  
  
Tears of joy ran down one of the nurse's faces. She wiped the droplets off with her sleeve.  
  
"Oh I'm so happy! Finally the nightmare can end!"   
  
A doctor standing next to her nodded his bald head in agreement. "If he had stayed any longer, I might have become a patient myself!"   
  
His buddy, the physical therapist, patted him on the back.  
  
"You think you had it bad. I know my blood pressure's never been higher. I thought I was going to keel over when he lifted that four-hundred pound barbell. I didn't even know we HAD a four-hundred pound barbell! And then he actually apologized saying he was 'out of shape'!"  
  
Two pretty young nurses approached them from behind. One idly chewed on a celery stick from the refreshment table.  
  
"You guys have got nothing on us." The nurse flipped her long hair back and swallowed the rest of her celery. "We were the ones taking care of him. Do you have any idea how many blood transfusions we had to perform?!" Her brunette friend nodded in agreement.  
  
"I think he had some kind of hydrophobia too. No one told us we'd be taking care of a mental case. What the hell did he mean by 'cold water could be deadly' anyway?"   
  
The physical therapy doctor shook his head. "Hibiki is... Hibiki. It's one of the great mysteries of the universe. I don't think he's meant to be understood." The group nodded sagely in awe of his wisdom.   
  
Several minutes passed as the group idly thought about the bright futures they had in front of them...Hibiki-less futures. Suddenly, the brunette nurse looked up and gasped.  
  
"Weren't we supposed to tell him to wait for his friends to pick him up?"   
  
The group paused for a moment and then shrugged collectively.   
  
"Oh well!" The blonde held her drink up in the air. "It's not our problem anymore!"   
  
The group broke out into manically laugher. The rest of their colleagues looked nervously over their shoulders and wondered if the group was just a bit overdue for their vacations.  
  
----  
  
Ukyou sighed as she walked next to Akane and Ranma on their way to the hospital. Akane and Ranma refused to acknowledge each other. Both were still mad over an earlier argument. Ukyou felt like beating them both to death. She knew what she had seen that night. They... as horrible as it sounded to her, actually loved each other. Worse, she couldn't even be in denial anymore. She couldn't pretend that one night was a fluke.   
  
Akane or Ranma would glance at each other with guilt written on their faces. Ukyou could tell they each wanted to apologize, but their pride was waiting for the other to say it first. It was so sweet; Ukyou thought her teeth were going to rot out.  
  
Her hand tightened in anger as she tried to force herself to ignore her companions. She swore the next time one of them looked at the other, she was going to jump in and start swinging. They were close to a hospital after all. They'd be ok.  
  
Ukyou entertained the thought for a moment and then her shoulders slumped.  
  
She couldn't even play the victim in good conscience. Shouldn't she be happy for Ranch--err Ranma? Besides, she wasn't the one that got hurt. She owed Ryouga. There was no time for self pity right now.   
  
Ukyou grimaced. She hated owing anyone. All her life, she had been the brave independent woman able to stand on her own two feet.  
  
Fine. It was settled. She would let him stay at her restaurant for awhile, give him some free food, and then send him on his way when he'd recovered. Oh... and she'd tell him about Akane and Ranma's new found "relationship". That ought to be _FUN_.   
  
Ukyou made a mental note to take him far away from her restaurant. Maybe she could tell him in front of the Cat Cafe... A small mischievous smile graced her lips. Yeah, that'd be great.  
  
Looking up in surprise, she found herself in front of the hospital. The group decided that the stairs were quicker and bounded up them, sometimes entire floors at a time. Once on the third floor, Ranma led the way and pushed open the main door.  
  
They weren't expecting a party.  
  
"Argh!" Akane held her hands over her ears to block out some of the loud, blaring music. "What's going on?!"   
  
Ranma shrugged and pushed through the party goers. Ukyou and Akane followed close behind. He was terribly tempted to jump over everyone's heads to the information desk, but decided Akane might consider that "rude".  
  
"Hey!" Ranma poked a nearby doctor lightly in the back to get his attention. The bald man turned to regard him. "We're here to pick up pig boy!"   
  
The man blinked.  
  
"Pig boy?"  
  
"Pig Boy! You know, Ryouga Hibiki!"   
  
A hush suddenly fell over the room as every eye turned to regard Ranma.  
  
"Err... did I say something wrong?" Ranma gulped.  
  
----  
  
"I can't believe I was so stupid! STUPID! STUPID!"  
  
Step... crutch... step... crutch...  
  
Ryouga hobbled down a suburban street, several blocks away from the hospital. His crutches left huge holes in the sidewalk. It was too late to turn back now; the hospital was already out of his line of sight. He was going to try to make it to Ucchan's. Ukyou had been nice enough to offer him a place to stay until he recovered, might as well take advantage of the situation.  
  
Passers-by gave him a wide berth. Whether it was from consideration for his injuries, or the fact that he was glowing bright green, he wasn't sure.  
  
"Mommy?" a little boy asked his mother while tugging on her sleeve. "Does that man have rabies?"  
  
"Shhh... come on, dear. Try not to make direct eye contact." She hurriedly ushered her child away while looking nervously over her shoulder.  
  
Ryouga stopped. Rabies? What does--HEY!   
  
He blushed.  
  
He had to calm down. Things couldn't be as bad as they seemed! He couldn't have walked that far away from the hospital. Probably... err maybe? It was no big deal. Sure, he was practically a cripple, wandering around aimlessly through the streets of Nerima, but was that so bad? He'd probably die in the gutter somewhere, or starve to death in the wilderness, or--  
  
He paused.  
  
"Damn it! I just made myself depressed again!"  
  
Ryouga started hobbling down the street again, angrier than he had been, before trying to "cheer himself up". He glanced around him.  
  
So, he was somewhere in the commercial district. Cologne's restaurant should be close to here. Right? Maybe two more blocks or so?  
  
Amazingly, two more blocks down. It _WAS_.  
  
The not-so-lost boy stood gaping in front of the doors in amazement. He stood in shock for several moments until Shampoo's "get well card of death" came to mind. Perhaps, standing in front of the Cat Cafe wasn't such a good idea. He started hobbling down the road again.  
  
"Heh, guess everyone gets lucky sometimes. So... this is kind of fun. Wonder what's going to be next? How about four blocks up and take a right will be Ukyou's place? Why not? I'm lost anyways."   
  
He followed his own directions, not caring how insane that felt, and found himself standing in front of Ucchan's, four blocks and a right later.  
  
He stood silently gaping at the small restaurant. His mouth hung open. He had never been lucky this many times in a row. It was like the universe was playing a joke on him, except this time it wasn't cruel.  
  
He walked up to the door and knocked lightly (Ukyou would kill him if he broke the door), and waited for an answer. None came. He peered through the glass and noticed a note.  
  
"CLOSED"  
  
"WENT LOOKING FOR THE JACKASS"  
  
TIME RETURNING: UNKNOWN  
  
Something about this was weird. It was on the edge of his mind. It had to do with his time at the hospital... what could it...  
  
He froze.  
  
NO WAY! IT COULDN'T BE!... could it?   
  
Ryouga bit his lip. What was wrong with him? Thinking _THAT_ could actually happen. But still... what if it was?  
  
He looked down the street. If he was wrong he'd regret it a dozen times over. But... he HAD to know. Turning, he headed down the road, and toward his destination.  
  
He reached the Tendo Dojo in ten minutes, without getting lost once. He fell to his knees in shock as an impossible thought overwhelmed him. He didn't know what deities had caused it, why, or how it happened, but it was true. It had to be.  
  
He had a sense of direction.   
  
----  
  
Contact Info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/ 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma 1/2. If I did, there would have been a real ending.  
  
I really appreciate C&C and take everything into consideration. It sounds corny, but I write to entertain (not find inner peace or something) so I like to know everyone's opinions. ^_^  
  
Contact Info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/  
  
----  
  
Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days  
  
Chapter 4  
  
----  
  
He was happy... REALLY happy.   
  
Ryouga hobbled through the streets of Nerima in a virtual state of euphoria. He had never been so happy in his life. It was like floating on soft puffy clouds. He didn't think he could pull off a Shi Shi Hodokan ever again.  
  
"AHHHHHHHHH! LIFE IS WONDERFUL! BWHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He fell to his knees laughing. It just felt so good to laugh for no reason. Tears of joy streamed down his face, but he didn't care. If someone saw him... so what!  
  
Hiroshi and Daisuke turned a corner and spotted Ryouga doing what appeared to be a jig in the middle of the sidewalk.  
  
The two boys blinked several times before regaining the power of speech.  
  
"Daisuke man, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"  
  
"Yeah, who would have ever thought Ryouga would turn to drugs?"  
  
"Who would have ever thought he could _FIND_ any drugs?" They shrugged and turned around the other way. A sober Ryouga was worse enough. They didn't want to see what one on drugs could do. Besides, they really wanted to stay away from... whatever the hell he was doing in the middle of the sidewalk.  
  
"IT'S GOOD TO BE ALIVE!" People fled in terror as a telephone pole crashed down on the sidewalk. Ryouga blinked sheepishly and looked down at the damage.  
  
"Sorry about that! Uh... and I'll pay for that window someday I promise!"   
  
The ice-cream shop owner stuck his head out of his shop and glared at the insane bandanna clad boy hugging telephone poles. Ryouga laughed nervously and decided to get lost, but only in a metaphysical sense.  
  
---  
  
Ukyou flipped another okonomiyaki absently, stopping to stare at the door again.  
  
"Where is that jackass?" She continued to mumble to herself and tossed a freshly made okonomiyaki to a customer. He smiled and began to devour it. She glanced at the door again, a worry line creasing on her forehead. Her customer must have noticed, because he stopped eating and cleared his throat.  
  
"Are you waiting for someone Miss Kuonji?"   
  
Ukyou scowled and started to fry another okonomiyaki. "No one _IMPORTANT_."   
  
Her customer raised an eyebrow and left it at that. Usually when your chef was radiating an unholy red and packed a large piece of blunt metal, regardless if it was a spatula or not, it was best to not bother her.  
  
"HAHAHAHA! I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD!" a voice shouted from outside. The customers visibly jumped and Ukyou paused a moment in her cooking.  
  
"Did Kasumi visit Doctor Tofu today?" She was about to walk outside and look, when a large telephone poll came crashing down, narrowly missing her door by centimeters. Blinking in shock, she grasped onto one clear thought that was rampaging through her brain.  
  
Someone was going to die, very very painfully.   
  
Dark red fires spread about her form like the deep embers of hell, and then suddenly dissipated as she turned to her customers with a cheery smile.  
  
"Will you excuse me for a moment, please?"   
  
Her customers turned pale and nodded slowly.  
  
"All right, I will be right back." She turned and walked out of the restaurant. One of the customers turned toward his wife.  
  
"Hurry dear! Put a couple of large bills on the counter!"   
  
"Ok, but why?" His wife grabbed her purse.  
  
"I saw it on a history show once. People used to throw coins in volcanoes to appease the gods."  
  
"Oh." She threw a few bills on the counter and the other customers followed suit trying to appease the great okonomiyaki gods and save their pitiful souls.  
  
"But Darling this is awfully expensive. Isn't there an easier way to do this?"  
  
"Well they would also sacrifice young virgins and throw them into the volcano." Her husband shrugged.   
  
Everyone paused and turned to Hikaru Gosunikugi. He looked up from his okonomiyaki and blinked.  
  
"What?"  
  
---  
  
Ryouga sighed happily as he hobbled down the street on his crutches. He was on cloud nine going 90 miles per hour with the windows down. Nothing could spoil his mood! Nothing! Not even--  
  
CLANG!  
  
Well maybe not nothing.  
  
"JACKASS! What the hell do you think you're doing! You could have trashed my restaurant!" Ukyou stood over him, holding her spatula in a fighting stance. Her hair moved by some unknown wind. Ryouga gulped. He'd just incurred the wrath of the most powerful being in Nerima.  
  
A pissed off girl.   
  
"You're not supposed to beat up on invalids ya know." Ryouga rubbed the spot on his forehead where a bruise was quickly forming.  
  
"Invalid my ass!" She rubbed her poor spatula where the idiot's head had dented it.   
  
"But..."  
  
"And what did you think you were doing, going off on your own like that?" She glared at him. How could she repay him if he wouldn't stay in one place long enough?! Jerk, she'd show him.  
  
"Ukyou! Hold on a second! I've got to tell you something!" Ukyou grabbed him by the collar and dragged him back the way she came.  
  
"It can wait. Come on you've got to sit down and rest."  
  
"Ow!" His still healing ribs hit a few sharp rocks as he was dragged along.  
  
"Oh stop complaining it can't hurt that bad."  
  
"I bet if I was "Ranchan" she'd be nicer to me." Ryouga's voice was barley above a whisper but she heard him anyway. She stopped and glared at him.  
  
"Do you WANT to be Ranma?"   
  
Ryouga's face construed into utter disgust and pain that put getting hit by large automobiles to shame.  
  
"No."  
  
"Well ok then." She started to drag him back again with determination. He was going to sit, get well, and let her repay her debt to him even if it killed him!  
  
---   
  
Ukyou and Ryouga were in a small room, it barely had enough space to walk. A couch sat next to a far wall piled high with soft cushions. A bandanna peeked out from under one of the corners of the cushions so there must have been a boy in there somewhere. There was also a small TV next to the opposite wall.  
  
"Come on Ukyou, really I feel much better now." Ryouga tried to sit up off the mountain of pillows he had been lying on and was quickly pushed back down.  
  
"Sit there and relax damn it!" She glowered at him, making him cower back onto the couch. She then set down a glass of ice water on a tray and then turned on the TV.  
  
Ryouga settled back down on the cushions and sighed as Ukyou fiddled with the stations a few more times.  
  
"Hmm... is a Kenshin marathon OK?" She turned back to him with a look that seemed to compel him to say 'Yes that is perfect. Thank you all mighty goddess for taking care of me. I'm not worthy.' Ryouga, never being a very wordy guy, decided that a smile and nod would suffice.  
  
"Good. Hey, you should like it. There's this guy that breaks rocks and everything." Ukyou smiled. She was a great nurse maid! Lost Boy was lucky to have a girl like her.   
  
Ryouga tried his new smile and nod technique again.  
  
"Great! Is there anything else you might need? Snacks? Blankets? More pillows?" She went on a brief ego trip again. She was doing such a great job!  
  
"No thanks. There are... enough pillows." Ryouga felt himself start to again sink into the fluffy abyss of lace and held on to the armrest for dear life. If Ukyou tried any harder to make him feel better, she might kill him.   
  
"Are you sure you're ok? You seem a little... pale." She crinkled her eyebrows in concern.  
  
Ryouga felt himself sink farther into the pillows. Ukyou slowly started to disappear. Oxygen... was he getting oxygen? He wasn't sure. Suddenly, getting buried alive became a very real possibility.  
  
"Well... I guess you look alright. I'll be back to check up on you later!" She turned and left, not seeing the single flailing hand thrust up from under the mountain of pillows.  
  
"Mmmffff mfff!"  
  
----  
  
Ukyou returned a few hours later carrying a tray of chicken noodle okonomiyaki and two glasses of water. The mountain of pillows was gone and the various sounds of fighting coming from the TV indicated that the marathon was still going on. Her patient lay sprawled on the couch comfortably. He sat up when he realized she was in the room. She smiled at him and sat next to him on the couch.  
  
"Hey Sugar, where are the pillows?" She picked up her own okonomiyaki and started to eat. Ryouga looked back at her with haunted eyes.  
  
"The pillows... were... uncomfortable." He shuddered. A cloud passed over his face but was quickly brushed away by a ray of sunshine. "Oh! I think somebody copied off of me when they made that Sanosuke guy. We're like twins!"  
  
Ukyou burst out laughing and almost choked on her okonomiyaki in the process.  
  
"Really! We're both really strong, we each have bandannas and we each break rocks... never understood why he always tried to eat his armbands in the ending credits." Although, all the girls seemed to dig that... maybe he should try it?  
  
"It's called sex appeal Ryouga." She rolled her eyes and took a sip of her water. "I don't expect you to know anything about it."  
  
"Hey! I could be sexy if I wanted to be!"  
  
Ukyou started to choke again. Quickly, she grabbed her glass of water and took a gulp. When she could breathe again, she burst out laughing. Her companion scowled.  
  
"What's so funny? I just choose not to care about those sorts of things. Who would want a girl that likes you just for your looks?" He wrinkled his nose.   
  
"Sugar, are you sure you didn't fall into the spring of drowned girl, too?" She wished she had a camera. Nothing human should have been able to turn that red.  
  
"DID NOT!" His voice came out a little louder than he had wanted it too. Ukyou looked taken back for a moment then her lips slid into a sly smile. She grasped her glass of water firmly and held it in front of her.  
  
"Maybe you DID fall into a spring." She swished the water threateningly.   
  
Ryouga recoiled like she was going to plaster Ranma-chan stickers all over his body. Quickly, he stood up, leaning on his good leg, and inched away from the glass of water.  
  
"Let's not be hasty--"  
  
"Me thinks you doth protest too much." Ukyou leaned forward a bit more.  
  
"You sound like Kuno." He edged back.  
  
"What's wrong? You aren't scared of a little water are you?" She dangled it near him, playfully. She leaned forward a bit more--  
  
and stubbed her toe on the carpet.   
  
Ryouga had the presence of mind to push her hand away, sending the glass and water safely across the room. However, he had to lean on his bad leg to do it, and grabbed Ukyou for support. The two collided and fell to the ground in a heap, Ukyou landing on top.  
  
They froze, each looking into the other's eyes. Luckily, Ryouga's mind was too frozen in fear to tell his nose to bleed. Ukyou could feel his muscled chest underneath her hand and Ryouga could smell her perfume. He didn't even think she wore perfume. A long strand of hair fell off her shoulder and tickled his face. The tension in the room was almost palpable until--  
  
They quickly scrambled off each other and retreated to opposite sides of the room.  
  
'Think about okonomiyaki,' Ukyou repeated to herself. okonomiyaki, okonomiyaki, okonomiyaki or Tsubasa... ewww.'  
  
Ryouga coughed and fixated his eyes on the wall. Martial arts, think about martial arts or... sumo guy in a pink bikini... eww.'  
  
Ukyou risked a glance out of the corner of her eye. After seeing that he was occupying himself with the great splendor of walls, she stood and pretended to clean up the water.  
  
"So?" She fumbled for words that had no sexual connotation in them. "Feeling better?" Damn...   
  
Fortunately, the male in the room was too busy chanting about baseball and cold showers to see any underlying information in her words.  
  
"Um, yeah... I'm kinda bored though. I wish I could walk around for a little bit." He grabbed the armrest of the couch and pulled himself up.  
  
"No way! The doctor said to keep you on bed rest for at least another week. You don't want to have a relapse do you? So sit down and let me repay you, jackass." Her voice radiated annoyance. She picked up the glass and faced him. The redness had almost faded from her cheeks.  
  
"It's nice to know you care." He rolled his eyes and sat back on the couch. His okonomiyaki sat on his plate, uneaten.  
  
"Stop complaining." She grinned evilly. "Ranma wouldn't complain that much."  
  
Ryouga paused and turned his head slowly in a nice impression of Linda Blair.  
  
"Do I look like Ranma to you?"   
  
There was a pause.  
  
"Nah, Ranch--err Ranma's a lot cuter than you."  
  
"Hey!"   
  
That was odd... she almost called him Ranchan. He couldn't remember her calling him that for quite awhile...  
  
Slowly pieces of a larger puzzle started to fit together. Her behavior lately, the distance she had been keeping from Ranma... Had she given up on him?! No way!  
  
Ryouga sat up and looked at Ukyou seriously.   
  
"Ukyou, is there something you haven't told me?"  
  
She paused and seemed to struggle for a moment. Suddenly, she looked up and smiled. "I'll tell you later OK?"  
  
"... ok." He sat back down and inspected his okonomiyaki. What the hell was in it anyway? He poked it with his finger.  
  
"It's not gonna jump up and attack you Sugar." She rolled her eyes. "It's not Akane's cooking."  
  
Ryouga was about to retort with a nice remark about Ranma when he remembered. He hadn't told Ukyou the good news yet! He sat up quickly, rattling the TV tray Ukyou had set out. Luckily, she had her glass of water in her hand, or it would have fell into Ryouga's lap and REALLY made the situation uncomfortable.  
  
"Listen, Ukyou I have to tell you something. Don't interrupt this time OK?"   
  
Ukyou raised an eyebrow. He was REALLY excited. It was eerie. He almost looked... happy? She looked out the window to make sure pigs weren't flying.  
  
Tarou flew by her window, chasing Happosai.  
  
Close enough. Ukyou sighed.   
  
"Yeah what's up?"   
  
"I didn't think it would ever happen Ukyou. It shouldn't have happened. I didn't think it could ever happen to me. I had almost accepted it you know? But It happened and I can't deny it."   
  
Ukyou turned pale. Oh no. He knows about Akane and Ranma. He must have found out. Poor kid, and after all he's been through too.   
  
She looked back up at him with tears and pity shining in her eyes.  
  
"I know how you feel. I never thought it would happen." She hung her head, letting her bangs fall over her face. Her companion looked confused, which wasn't that out of the ordinary for him.  
  
"Ukyou, I didn't think you'd care this much. You act like it's something bad." Wow. Ukyou was really happy for him.  
  
"How could you say that?!"  
  
"Uh why wouldn't I say that?" Was it getting hotter in the room?   
  
"Jackass! I should have known you'd go and get over Akane without telling me! Can't you even consider my feelings?!"  
  
Ryouga blinked. Now he was REALLY confused.   
  
"Uh... why should your feelings be important right now?" Getting over Akane? What was she talking about?  
  
"JACKASS!"  
  
Uh oh. She was getting out the spatula. Why was she getting out the spatula?!  
  
Ukyou picked up her blunt instrument of death and stalked towards him. Ryouga wondered how fast he could bolt to the door. With crutches it would be more along the lines of rolling to the door, than bolting.  
  
Time had already run out though, as she lifted the large cookware over her head--  
  
and stopped.  
  
He looked up and saw her walking away muttering about how honor and revenge was a dish best served cold.  
  
What the hell just happened?   
  
He scowled at her retreating form.   
  
What the hell did he do now?   
  
He picked up his uneaten okonomiyaki and glared at it.  
  
And what the hell was in these things?!  
  
---  
  
HOURS LATER . . .  
  
Ukyou walked back to her small living room, after a hard day of work. She had no idea why Gosunkugi had been tied to the grill and surrounded by money. Why not just leave the money?  
  
She wiped the beads of sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand.  
  
"Hey Ryouga I'm back!" She walked through the door and looked around. The pillows had reappeared and were stacked neatly against the wall. Ryouga's pack was gone, along with the crutches. She stepped closer and noticed a single note lying on the couch.   
  
"What the..." She walked over to the note and picked it up. Ukyou's name was written in neat handwriting on the front next to a comical image of Ranma getting stepped on by a giant foot. She grimaced and opened it.  
  
Dear Ukyou,  
  
I'm sorry for being such a bother to you. You don't need to repay me. I didn't knock you out of the way to be repaid. Actually, I wasn't thinking a whole lot at all. I release you from any pact that you feel you're obliged to repay. I don't know why you were angry. Me getting a sense of direction shouldn't have affected you THAT badly. So whatever, I did or said... I'm sorry. I'm gone. I won't bother you anymore.  
  
Signed,   
  
Ryouga Hibiki.  
  
She crunched up the note in her fist and hung her head.  
  
"Damn it!"   
  
----  
  
Contact Info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/ 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2. Which is good, because then it only would have come out at the rate of one chapter a year...ha ha.  
  
Contact Info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/  
  
----  
  
Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days  
  
Chapter 5  
  
----  
  
The bright star filled sky cast no light upon the weary traveler as he hobbled down the street. His foot falls shattered the irrepressible silence that seemed to permeate the air around him.  
  
Step... Crutch... Step... Crutch...  
  
"I hate these things!" A low growl emanated from Ryouga's throat. His grip tightened on the wooden crutches as he resisted the urge to crush them to splinters.  
  
What had he been doing at Ucchan's? He should have known he would be a burden, not to mention there was the pig curse to worry about. Besides, it was indecent for a guy to stay at a young girl's house, even if the girl didn't really act like one.   
  
"Stupid street." Ryouga's scowl deepened as he gazed at the broken street lamps. "Stupid city, stupid country, stupid hemisphere, STUPID WORLD!" He kicked a trashcan in anger.  
  
"Ow... stupid me." He gritted his teeth and bit back the pain that was coursing through his leg. Maybe he should have used the other NON-BROKEN foot?   
  
Ryouga stopped to gaze at the sky for a moment as he waited for the needles of pain to stop jabbing his foot. The stars looked like they were laughing at him. 'We'll always be here', they seemed to say. 'We'll linger on if you're here or not. Time will march on, empires will collapse and the stupid stars will still be here, sitting here, twinkling stupidly through all eternity.'  
  
He used to believe there was... someone or something or someone up there. His mother used to tell him that before... she ... it didn't matter. He didn't believe anymore. It was better to believe that no one was up there than to believe there was some divine power (or powers?) that enjoyed to torment. Still...believing in nothing was no way to live either.  
  
He scowled at the night sky.  
  
To hell with it! He didn't care. Nope. Not one bit. There were no higher powers controlling everything. His new found sense of direction was only an accident. Or a fluke... Yeah, it was a fluke.  
  
Besides, everything was Ranma's fault. Although, he had been nice to him at the hospital... Then again, every time he thought Ranma was being nice, he'd really be taking advantage of him and Ryouga would feel like a big dumbass.  
  
Yeah, it was Ranma's fault. It had to be. It was the only constant in Ryouga's life and he clung to it like a drowning man to a life preserver. Giant yetis may fly, the sky might turn orange, Shampoo might learn about the wonderful world of pronouns, but it was ALWAYS Ranma's fault. That's just the way life was. It was like physics or something.  
  
"What have you ever done for me, anyways?" His voice was barely a whisper as he stared at the cold night sky. He had done this many times. Of course, it never answered. It always stayed the same, twinkling like a bunch of stupid lights, never answering. But this time--  
  
IT DID.  
  
AN aLley wAy . . . A siGn . .. tHe sNakEs PiT . . .a yOUng GirL wAs cRyIng, hE was goIng tO kIlL HeR but no ONe wAs goInG To sAve her . . . NO ONE . . . sHe'D dIE . . . a rUsTy knIfe . . . fear  
  
Ryouga fell to his knees and clutched his head in pain as images flashed through his mind.  
  
shUt uP aND dO As YoUr tOld . . . gUn leFt pOCKet . . . nEvEr uNdEreStiMatE tHe cAt . . . sOmE pEoPlE . . . aren't worth saving.  
  
The images passed as quickly as they came and Ryouga was left gasping for breath. Sweat dripped down his brow and it seemed like millions of icy fingernails were scraping through his brain.  
  
"Oh man what just..." His head shot up. He heard... something. Was that a woman screaming? He stood up and walked quickly toward the source of the sound. It hurt like hell to walk without the crutches, but they hindered his movements too much.  
  
Painstakingly, he made his way through the streets. It was like his feet had minds of their own (which would explain quite a lot). He knew where to go, he just didn't know WHERE he was going.  
  
The streets seemed to deteriorate the farther he went. Large pot holes littered the street and only the occasional lamppost actually worked. The stench of urine and garbage hung in the air. You just had to love the recession.  
  
"Shit..." Ryouga's grip tightened around his crutches. Maybe his new found sense of direction was leaving him. But he had been so sure... He NEEDED to be here. What happened to that crying girl anyway? She had sounded only a few feet away.  
  
"Great Hibiki, you're going crazy." Scenery passed by unnoticed as he kept his eyes directly in front of him. It was a dangerous part of Japan. He had to be on guard for anything.  
  
A bar named the "Snakes Pit" passed by his view, unnoticed.  
  
"Shut up and do as you're told."  
  
Ryouga stopped and flattened himself against a wall. He could hear the faint sounds of crying now. How had he ever been able to hear them before? He heard a loud smack as something impacted against human flesh. The only thing that kept him from jumping out right then was the next voice.  
  
"I'm sorry. It's just... I can do this I really can."  
  
Ryouga risked a glance around the corner.  
  
A young girl, couldn't have been more than fourteen, lay hunched on the ground. Her face was black and blue. A small trickle of blood dripped from her lower lip. A man towered over her with his fists clenched tightly. The young girl's hair flowed down her back and was covered in small gaudy bows. Her entire body shook like a leaf in the wind.  
  
It was like a scene from a bad movie.  
  
"I paid good monnah fer ya." The man sneered. His merciless brown eyes glinted for a brief second in the dark. "Youzs reminds meh of mah dear, dead Maya, yousz do." His hand slipped into his pocket. "Always slutting around. But showed her I did."  
  
Youzs? The guy sounded like a yakuza. Not only was it like a bad movie, it was a bad GANGSTER movie.  
  
Ryouga really hated those.  
  
A long jagged knife slithered from the thug's pocket in almost slow motion. The girl glanced up and whimpered.  
  
"What are you..." She stood up and cautiously stepped backwards. "Please, don't. I'll do whatever you want just--"  
  
"That's what youzs always say Maya! Then ya go slutting around. I got rid of ya but youzs keep comin back. Just like da cat. It comes again the cat does. But I'm not gonna ta underestimate it dis time. No... never underestimate da cat."  
  
He brought his knife to his mouth and licked it, leaving a long trail of saliva across the blade.  
  
A CLICHED GANGSTER MOVIE.  
  
"You're not coming back this time Maya. No... not this time."  
  
The girl clenched her eyes in fear.   
  
Suddenly, a crutch flew from the mouth of the alley and hit the man's wrist. The crutch clattered to the ground.  
  
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAh!" The man fell to the floor, cradling his bruised wrist.  
  
Ryouga stood at the mouth of the alley. Every fiber of his being trembled with anger. Red fire crackled at the tips of his hair and red tendrils swirled around him like fire, creating the illusion of the very pits of hell.  
  
He was pissed.  
  
"Prepare to die." He leveled his umbrella threateningly.  
  
"The kitty wants ta play." The man snickered and playfully switched his knife from hand to hand as he approached.  
  
Ryouga stood his ground. He didn't even need to move to defeat this bastard. Which was good, since he didn't have that option open to him right now.  
  
The man was only a few feet from him when something flashed across his mind.  
  
THERE WAS A GUN IN HIS LEFT POCKET.   
  
Ryouga grabbed the man's wrist at the last second, and pushed the man's hand with the other, sending the gun flying across the alley. A right hook sent him flying out of the alley and onto the street where he hit a lamp. His body hit the ground with a thud and lay still, unconscious.  
  
Pathetic. Not even enough to break a sweat.  
  
"Are-are you ok, Miss?" Ryouga limped over and stood in front of the girl. The girl stared at him with an odd expression. Something very "non-damsel in distress" flashed across her face to be replaced quickly by a scared expression.  
  
Ryouga tried waving his hand in front of her face to get her attention.  
  
"Uh, hello? Miss?"  
  
She blinked rapidly and returned to herself. "Why did you save me?"  
  
"He was going to--"  
  
"What do you want from me?" Anger leaked into her voice. She took a step backward. For some reason, Ryouga had the sudden impression he was in a play.  
  
"Uh, want? I don't want anything. I was just--"  
  
"They always want something." She brushed past him and bolted out of the alley.  
  
"Wait!"  
  
The girl stopped abruptly and looked over her shoulder. Their eyes met and Ryouga found himself staring into eyes that seemed hollow. This whole thing was odd. Something was off.  
  
Finally, the girl tore her gaze away and whispered softly.  
  
"Heh. Some people aren't worth saving." She ran out of the alley and into the night, leaving Ryouga standing alone.   
  
A chilly wind blew a stray paper across is path. Not a sound could be heard for miles as the lonely night marched onward.  
  
The stars twinkled unbidden.  
  
----  
  
Contact Info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/ 


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is not mine cretins! *shakes fist*  
  
Contact Info:   
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/  
  
----  
  
Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days  
  
Chapter 6  
  
----  
  
Ukyou sipped her soda idly and settled back against the couch. The stars had not yet faded from the early morning sky, leaving her living room illuminated only by the small TV in the middle of the room. Ukyou usually tried to catch the morning news before the breakfast rush. It always helped to calm her nerves, even if it was always bad news. The kitchen segment was good for a couple of laughs. The silly fool, how could you have food and not fighting? The two went hand and hand. It was so very wrong.  
  
The television flashed as the anchorman appeared on the screen.  
  
"Today, authorities arrested the long-sought-after Doppelganger killer. Police received an anonymous tip late last night, and found the suspect unconscious and tied to a lamppost. We should have more on this breaking story at noon. In other news..."  
  
"It's nice to know there are still people like Ranma-honey out there." She took a bite of her experimental American okonomiyaki and grimaced. Putting potato chips, cheese, and a couple of other American foods together had sounded like a good idea on paper...but in reality, it was a small, flat heart attack on a plate.  
  
With a deep sigh, she picked up her half-eaten breakfast, turned off the television (that damn cooking show was on again), and walked to the restaurant area. The freshly mopped and scrubbed countertop and floor welcomed her with a wave of lemon. She might have overdone it a bit with the cleaner...  
  
She wrinkled her nose and went to prepare the restaurant for the morning rush.  
  
She envied the other kids at school. Most of them would be still asleep, in their nice warm beds ... like Akane... It wasn't fair. Where did her damn childhood go?  
  
She shook her head. It wasn't good to dwell on the past. She did that for ten years and look what it got her, an empty restaurant. Granted, things could be worse. She wasn't on the streets or anything. Hell would freeze over before she let that happen to herself.  
  
What was she even doing here? Ranma loved Akane, proving that love was blind... and deaf... and apparently no longer had any feeling from the neck down. She had no reason to be here, save her restaurant. Maybe she could move...  
  
Nah, she had come to know people here. Some of them were very scary people but still... normal was so boring. If all of the crazy people just disappeared from Nerima, it just wouldn't be home anymore.   
  
She paused.  
  
Well she could always do without Happosai. But wishing for something never made it true.  
  
---  
  
Somewhere in a remote location in Japan...  
  
"What a haul!" The ancient pervert known as Happosai laughed to himself as he trudged through an abandoned wheat field. The night sky was pitch black and void of stars, save for one lone ball of light that twinkled in the distance.  
  
It had been nearly two months since he'd been back to Nerima. Oh! How the pretty ladies must miss him!  
  
"Don't worry, sweetums! I'm coming back! Nothing can stop me! Nothing can keep me away from the pretty ladies!"  
  
Unnoticed by Happosai, the distant star moved.  
  
"Ahh my pretties." He swung his bag of underwear playfully. "Akane, here I c--  
  
Happosai blinked as a bright light illuminated his face.  
  
"What the--Aaahh!" He felt suddenly his body being ripped to pieces and seized by some kind of beam. A blinding flash of light illuminated the area for a brief second.   
  
Abruptly as it had appeared, the star in the sky vanished. A large bundle of underwear fell to the ground in the empty field.  
  
Happosai, the lecherous pervert that had tormented thousands of women throughout history, was never seen again.  
  
And the world was a better place.  
  
---  
  
"If wishes were fishes." Ukyou laughed to herself and started up the grill. Wishing was a nice pastime for long-haired princesses in towers, but it never got anything done. Besides, she had things to do before she could make major life decisions, like explain to Ryouga that the girl he was in love with was in love with someone else, his mortal enemy no less, and that he was going to have to move on with his life, like it or not.  
  
Gee, life sure was fun.  
  
She had to break it to him gently. Maybe she could take him shopping? The boy could use more than one pair of clothes. Didn't he ever get tired of yellow? And that headband... it did NOT match everything, despite what he may think. The mountain man hairstyle was not working either.  
  
Perfect! She'd take him to the mall, have lunch, get a haircut, and then crumble his hopes and dreams into dust.  
  
Ukyou wrinkled her nose.  
  
"Well I guess you can't have everything." She paused and stared out the window at the rising sun. It was a good plan but it had one tiny snag...  
  
She had to FIND him first.  
  
---  
  
The sun rose slowly over the mountains, bathing the forest clearing in a soft-orange light. Shadows slithered from nooks and crannies like reptiles as if trying to escape back from the morning's rays.  
  
Ryouga went through the graceful movements of a simple kata. Sweat dripped off his body like rain. His bad leg burned as he executed a slow side-kick.  
  
Focus.  
  
Punch. Kick. Sweep. Breathe.  
  
His muscles wouldn't do what he wanted them to. Just a few months ago, he could have preformed the kata with ease, not even breaking a sweat. Now he felt like he was in a stranger's body. His muscles felt alien and weak.  
  
HE HATED TO FEEL WEAK!  
  
"Bauksai tenketsu!" A boulder exploded into tiny shards before his eyes. At least some things still worked. He slid to his knees, breathing heavily.  
  
"I'm never going to be able to defeat Ranma now." But that's what everyone expected, wasn't it? It was the way the universe worked. Ranma was best, and Ryouga was allowed to be second best sometimes. We couldn't let Ryouga win. Oh no. Then Ranma wouldn't be the best and the whole damn world would explode.  
  
"I've got a sense of direction now and what can I do with it? I can find Ranma, but I can't beat him. Akane wouldn't be impressed by something I was already supposed to have, and I still had this damn curse..." Ryouga froze and looked up suddenly. Why hadn't he thought of it before?!  
  
He ran and grabbed his bag.  
  
"Ranma Saotome!" He raised his fists in the air. "I'm going to Jusenkyou ! AND I'M NOT BRINGING YOU BACK ANY DAMN WATER EITHER!!!"  
  
Five minutes later...   
  
Ryouga stopped and frowned.  
  
"Uh... how do I get to Jusenkyou anyway?"  
  
---  
  
The sun had already set by the time Ryouga set foot in Nerima again.  
  
His plan was simple; sneak into Akane's house as P-chan, steal Genma's map, and get out. He wasn't too happy about having to steal. But, there were probably plenty of things Genma had gotten away with that he needed punished for. And all Ranma had to do was ask Cologne for one. Or Shampoo. He might even have the stupid map memorized. Besides, he wasn't going to keep the map forever. He was just borrowing it... for a very long time.  
  
He walked under a bridge, casting his body into shadow. A fog rolled off the water, obscuring the path... Discarded beer bottles littered the ground like urban flowers. A hobo must have been by here. Ryouga glanced over his shoulder. Whoever it had been was long gone.  
  
He shifted the weight of his backpack. Something glittered on the surface of the water for a moment. Dismissing it as the moonlight, he continued on.  
  
The light flickered briefly again. It looked almost like thin hands reaching from the depths of the water... thin... human hands  
  
"Shit." He rushed forward. The mud next to the bank squished underneath his shoes. Careful not to slip, he peered over into the murky depths. The mist cleared for a moment, revealing a slightly decayed human body caked in slime. The current slowly turned the body on its side, exposing its lifeless brown eyes.  
  
Ryouga stepped back and blinked in shock. What the--? But when he opened them again the body was gone. The water flowed serenely on as if nothing had ever been there. Maybe it hadn't?  
  
He wiped his brow with the back of his hand and took a cautious step backward. Mist clung to the ground in a death grip. All was still save for the soft sound of running water. He could hear his own heart thumping loudly in his ears. Thump... Thump... Thump...  
  
He backed up to the concrete sides of the bridge. There was a strange pricking feeling in his brain like someone was poking his mind with a needle. Shit, what the heck was going--  
  
His world inverted and ripped apart.  
  
Ryouga grabbed the edge of the wall tightly. His fingers left indentations in the concrete surface.  
  
"Ah hell, not again."  
  
bUrnINg bReAD . . . A rEd rIGht hANd . . . 5232 . . . nEvEr tRusT tHe rEd oNly tHe bLuE . . .THerE wAs aN oLd MAn oN tHe BRiDge . . . yOu Can oNly bE pUshEd sO fAr BeForE yOu hAve noThing leFt . . .  
  
Ryouga released the wall slowly. A large piece of concrete fell from his hand and onto the rocky ground. He cradled his head in his hands as the sense of vertigo slowly receded.  
  
"I don't care," he muttered softy into his hands. "This isn't my problem. I don't care." Stupid visions, he wasn't going to jump when called! He had freewill damn it! Some weird brain aneurism wasn't going to tell him what to do!  
  
His head raised and he tried to compose himself. Shifting his bag on his shoulders, he turned and headed away from the bridge.  
  
Let someone else be heroic. Ryouga had his own problems. Besides, he wasn't nice enough to be heroic. In fact, he was often a jerk? Do jerks save people? No way! Jerks mind their own business!   
  
And yet, Ryouga felt himself turn around and begin to walk back to the bridge.  
  
"No I don't care at all." His voice sounded lame even to his own ears. He scowled at the ground. Damn conscience... where did he get one anyway?  
  
He slowly made it to the top and indeed, there was an old man standing on the edge of the bridge, looking down to the depths below. What was left of his hair was gray. His clothes were disheveled as if they had been slept in. His wrinkled face was impassive and cold.  
  
Ryouga stopped. He waited for the man to notice him for a few moments. He shifted his weight from foot to foot. When it became evident that the man was oblivious to the outside world, Ryouga decided to try a different tactic.  
  
"So um... what are ya doing?" Ryouga winced. He's trying to kill himself you moron! What do you think he was trying to do? Knit him a sweater?!  
  
The man turned and gazed at Ryouga. Their eyes met for a brief moment. Age clashed with youth as the bandanna-clad boy held the eye contact. The old man's brown orbs seemed depthless. Ryouga was struck again with a feeling of wrongness as when he saved the street girl. But, the situation didn't feel like a play as before. Ryouga could sense the old man's emotions were sincere and yet...  
  
"Please, leave an old man to his final business. I have to do this..." The old man shrugged his shoulders.   
  
Ryouga had the irrational feeling that the old man had strings attached to his arms and legs like a puppet. And somewhere, invisible hands held the strings, dictating his every movement.   
  
Ryouga shook the feeling away and approached the man slowly. "Ah, come on old man you have lots to live for." Hopefully, he wouldn't ask for examples.  
  
"Like what?"  
  
DAMN!  
  
"Uh um... things and uh stuff um... lots of stuff!" The bandanna clad boy laughed nervously. He tried a lame attempt at a smile, only to succeed in a kind of half grimace. He was more likely to scare the man into jumping than succeed in saving him. Then again, what was he saving him from? The mental image of a puppet on strings just wouldn't leave Ryouga's mind.  
  
The man raised a single gray eyebrow, amused despite himself. "You're not very good at this are you?"  
  
"I'm trying! You um... uh... err... uh... DAMN IT!" Ryouga shook his head violently. "I can't take all this stress!"  
  
The old man's eyes widened in a flicker of sincere emotions.  
  
Ryouga continued to clutch his head, in the middle of a mini panic attack.  
  
He had to think of something! ANYTHING! Think stupid! The old man had been around a long time. He'd probably done a lot in his life. But Ryouga had never really done much... The old man probably had a wife, kids, grandkids, and a home. Not like Ryouga. All Ryouga had was an empty house that wasn't really a home anymore. He didn't have a girlfriend either and he didn't want to have any kids yet... but that was beside the point! What was he doing? He had no purpose in life... unless this was his purpose in life... then he was totally screwed. ARGH! HE WAS SUCH A LOSER!... And he supposed to grief counsel someone?!'  
  
"FINE! I'M KILLING MYSELF TOO!" Ryouga jumped up on the ledge, landing next to the man, almost knocking the old guy off in the process.   
  
"That's not what you're supposed to do..." Life suddenly rushed back into the old man's eyes as if the strings had suddenly snapped. "GET OFF THE LEDGE STUPID!"   
  
The old man had completely come to life, as if his soul had been on vacation visiting relatives and had just arrived back home.  
  
"What?" Ryouga looked back at him innocently. His fangs made it rather hard to pull off that expression correctly. "I don't see your name on this ledge."  
  
"Get off the ledge!"  
  
Ryouga shrugged and looked over the edge himself. It seemed miles down to the bottom. If he didn't have his curse, he could probably survive the jump. Little piggy bones weren't as strong as his human ones. But hey, what are ya gonna do?  
  
"I SAID GET OFF OF THE--" The old man abruptly paused and looked suddenly thoughtful. "There was something important I was supposed to remember..." The man leaned forward absently. "It was important. And I think it was about a stone cat."  
  
A cat? What was wrong with this guy?  
  
Other than the whole "being suicidal business" of course.  
  
"Huh..." The old man jumped down from the ledge and started to walk away looking thoughtful.  
  
What the hell?  
  
"Huh? Are we done killing yourselves now?" Ryouga jumped down off the ledge in confusion. What was with the sudden change in attitude?  
  
"Hmm? Oh yes..." The old man looked over his shoulder. "And you are?"  
  
Ryouga bowed, hesitantly. "Ryouga Hibiki."  
  
"Hibiki? Come with me...yes, that's what you're supposed to do." The man put a hand across his shoulders in a friendly gesture and began to lead him away. They faced toward the commercial district.  
  
What the hell was going on? He should probably be running the other direction, but he decided to play along. Besides, it's not like the old man could actually hurt him. If the old man freaked out on him, he could always kick his senior citizen ass.  
  
"You're not going to chop me up and bury me in your basement are you?"   
  
"Ha ha ha. What kind of question is that?"   
  
Ryouga mentally frowned. That wasn't a "no" either.  
  
----  
  
Contact Info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/ 


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma 1/2.  
  
Contact Info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/  
  
----  
  
Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days  
  
Chapter 7  
  
----  
  
The spicy aroma of his soup wafted up through the air toward Ryouga's senses. He wasn't sure what kind of soup it was. The taste reminded him of his potluck concoctions he'd often make on his travels.  
  
He swirled the contents for a moment, watching the odd colored vegetables fall from his spoon.  
  
"Are you going to eat that or just pick at it?" The old man's hollow laugh echoed through the empty restaurant. Ryouga glanced up at his host. The man looked back at him with unreadable brown eyes.  
  
The old man hadn't tried to eat Ryouga's brains yet, so that had to be a good sign.  
  
The restaurant was small but cozy with yellow and white booths, fresh flowers, and glistening counter tops. The building was old but well taken care of. It had a home-like feel to it. Or at least Ryouga thought it did, he wasn't exactly sure what home was supposed to feel like.  
  
"So what's your name anyway?" Ryouga took another sip of his soup. It was a good place to start as any. He had never been good at the art of conversation.  
  
"Oh, I forgotten haven't I?" The old man chuckled, but the laughter did not reach his eyes. "The name's Kenji Benkeru. Is the soup good?"  
  
Mr. Benkeru stared off into nothing.   
  
Ryouga nodded his head in return. "Oh, yeah it's good soup. Heh, I used to have an uncle named Kenji." He frowned slightly as he bit down on something hard and crunchy. What the hell was he eating anyway?  
  
"Really? Where is he now?"  
  
"We think the Bermuda Triangle. Mom told him not to buy that boat, but he wouldn't listen. Kept raving about something called a G.P.S. device. He said it would solve all his problems." Ryouga's frowned deepened. "I guess it did."  
  
Mr. Benkeru continued to stare. "It's a fairly average name... Would you like some bread, Mr. Hibiki?" He stood up and walked behind the counter.  
  
"No thank you."  
  
"Are you sure? It's Mr. Benkeru's famous bread." Mr. Benkeru stooped behind the counter and procured the wrapped bread. "Not what I had wanted, but it will do..."  
  
Ryouga started to choke on a vegetable. He was in a BREAD store of all places. It was like his vision... Hell everything had been about his hallucinations lately. Going crazy wouldn't have been so bad, if he'd been having visions of lottery numbers.   
  
"This is a bread store? Is any of the bread burning?"  
  
The old man looked over his shoulder. "No, I don't think so. Should it be?"  
  
"Uh... " Ryouga put a hand behind his head and laughed nervously. This was getting him nowhere. Why was he even here? Free food? He wasn't Ranma; food wasn't the driving force in his life. So why? He didn't even know this man. You live a long time; you get old and die. A broken body was the consequence of living so long. He couldn't help this man. He didn't WANT to help this man.  
  
But, he still wanted to know what the hell was up with him. Maybe he was on some weird reality show?  
  
Ryouga covertly looked around for hidden cameras.  
  
Mr. Benkeru walked around the counter again slowly, using the side of the counter to balance himself. Carefully, he sat himself down again across from Ryouga. His face twitched with pain, but the emotion was quickly covered up.  
  
Ryouga averted his eyes. No, there was nothing else he could do. He already stuck his neck out for someone, and personal experience told him, when you stick your neck out for strangers you usually get it chopped off. The last time he helped someone, he got ran over by a SEMI of all things. There was also the street girl, but he seemed to have simply annoyed her. He probably should have let the old man die, he was going to go soon anyways.  
  
He felt a twinge of guilt. No, he couldn't have done that. He wasn't a complete bastard.  
  
"Here just take a piece, it's free. Bread's nothing to fight over." Mr. Benkeru sat a loaf of bread in front of his guest and then picked up a coffee mug for himself.  
  
Ryouga began to choke again.  
  
"Is it all right?" The old man's gazed seemed to look straight through him as he sipped his coffee. "I can't see things like I used to. But I think it's what you wanted."  
  
"Yeah... the bread is very good. Thank you." Ryouga coughed and took a sip of his water. "I just choked a bit, that's all."  
  
"Are you sure you're fine?" Mr. Benkeru's gazed finally fully focused on him. Ryouga idly noted the words 'I love you grandpa' on the front of the coffee mug.  
  
"Oh, I always look like this." He touched the slender scar beneath his eyelid. "Well, mostly like this."  
  
"This wasn't what you wanted right now was it? I get confused sometimes on the here and now and think that yesterday's tomorrow isn't today." The bread man laughed softly to himself and without mirth.  
  
"Uh..." Ryouga was too confused to think up a reply.  
  
The conversation lapsed into uncomfortable silence. The old man must have been too polite to ask him how he got the scar, or he just didn't care. Ryouga's eyes trailed along the contents of the room. On a far wall, a small wall shelf held several trinkets, including a small carved stone cat. But what was really piqued his interest was a family photo sitting next to it. The picture had been taken several years before. Mr. Benkeru's face looked slightly younger and happier. The wrinkles on his face seemed less pronounced somehow, as if they were made laughing instead of frowning. Also, an older woman sat beside him with aging gray hair and a smile upon her face. But most importantly, an oddly familiar young girl no older than thirteen sat in front of them with long hair.  
  
He knew that girl... He squinted his eyes. He had seen her before. It was that prost-- er girl from the other day. Younger perhaps, and less dark and dreary, but it still had to be her. What was he supposed to do now?  
  
"I don't know what I was doing on the bridge." The old man stirred his coffee quietly seemingly unconcerned despite his words. "It was like I was in a dream...But, I'm not sure what good it does. I can't remember my most important task, and without it I'm better off dead." Mr. Benkeru shrugged.  
  
Ryouga blinked in confusion. First, he thanked him for saving him, now he WANTED to die? And he was being rather casual about the whole situation.  
  
"I could have at least recovered some honor. I can't believe I lost it..." The bread man sipped his coffee. "Oh well."   
  
Huh?  
  
"Excuse me Mister, not to sound rude or anything but what the hell is going on? First you thank me for saving you, now you wished I hadn't? And what did you loose?" Ryouga was more than out of his depth here, he was drowning in a sea of depth.   
  
"You are not looking for it yet?" He waved his hand dismissively in the air. "I get confused." He sighed. "But it does not matter."  
  
Ryouga was saved from having to reply by a brick crashing through the window. Pieces of glass spread out like a current of knives, but Ryouga was fast enough to shield the old man. The brick bounced off his back.   
  
It felt like a baby's kick.  
  
Looking through the shattered window, he could see six hooded forms armed with baseball bats and clubs in one hand and torches in the other. Another brick landed on the table, barely missing Ryouga's now cold soup by inches.  
  
"Are they back again?" Mr. Benkeru, rolled his eyes unfazed. The hooded figures sneered at the old man as they approached. Seemingly ignored, Ryouga quietly made his way to a side door.  
  
One of the hooded figures stepped forward. The torchlight eerily highlighted the shadows of his cloak, creating an almost demonic visage. "The Red Right Hand demands you give us the key." The hooded figure's voice lowered. "The master's wishes shall be fulfilled."  
  
To Ryouga's amazement, Mr. Benkeru walked back to his seat, brushed the glass off his chair, and continued to sip his coffee.  
  
"Are you making fun of us old man?!" One of the cult members swung his baseball bat expertly and leered but did not come in yet.  
  
"Give you what?" The old man rubbed his bearded chin. "The education system has been really failing us lately. Tsk tsk, what kind of name for is Red Right Hand? In my day, we had good names for our cults."  
  
"You stupid old bastard! We'll burn you to the ground! You will be an example! No one shall oppose the Red Right Hand. No one--erk." Erk? The cultist's eyes widened in surprise as he crumpled to the ground in a heap.   
  
"I probably should have something witty to say right now." Ryouga shrugged behind the fallen attacker's body. "Oh well, screw it." He barely had time to smirk before they came at him as one.  
  
They weren't very good in all honesty. Ryouga ducked and watched his attacker swing at him. He caught the wrist of the next on mid-swing and disarmed him. A quick thrust with the stolen weapon to the guy's stomach downed him.  
  
They were so slow to him, he could have thought up a grocery list in between punches. After all this time becoming used to Ranma, it was nice to be reminded that he was a badass.  
  
Just...slightly less of a badass then Ranma.  
  
The cultists regrouped, forming a circle around him. Ryouga noticed mild skill in a few as they switched their stances. Not really feeling like a drawn-out battle, Ryouga jumped into the fray, knocking out two before he hit the ground. He felt his ribs twinge slightly as he landed, but ignored it. A figure to his right pulled out a pair of nunchucks. Grinning maliciously, he whipped them out and flashed a few flips and strikes. Ryouga would have laughed if it hadn't been a very Ranma thing to do. Idly, he pulled off a bandanna and aimed it at the man's weapon. It caught up in the chains and sent the nunchuckus into their owner's face, effectively knocking him out.  
  
Only a flashy idiot uses nunchukus in a real fight.  
  
The fight was over in less than five minutes.  
  
Ryouga looked over the carnage and scratched his head. What do you do with twenty unconscious creepy hooded guys?  
  
"Uh, hey old man, are you all right?" Ryouga looked over his shoulder and into the restaurant.  
  
"Sure." The old man sat down his cup. "Heh, I'm going to need a new window." He looked back up. "You need some rope?"  
  
Ryouga nodded dumbly. The old man retrieved the rope and handed to him. The not so lost boy spent the next ten minutes tying up the men. He didn't want to admit it, but he sort of felt like Batman.  
  
"So... I'm going to leave now." Ryouga picked up his backpack from the restaurant and turned to leave. "I've got places I need to be." Places? Bullshi-- "Ya going to be ok?"  
  
Mr. Benkeru looked up at him from his chair sipping coffee. "No. But try to stop by again, maybe I'll have found what I was looking for. I better call the police..." He paused and his eyes seemed to focus to crystal clarity and the corners of his lips quirked up for a split second. "You know what I'd really like right now? Some okonomiyaki. Ah, but I don't have any cabbage."   
  
The old bread seller laughed to himself, closed the door, and turned off the lights, leaving Ryouga standing alone on the dark street.  
  
That had been... an interesting experience.  
  
Stepping over the fallen bodies, he walked over to a phone booth and called the police. He'd have the number memorized at this rate. He didn't really trust the old man to call himself. Assured that the police would be there soon--not that it mattered, those guys weren't getting up anytime soon, he turned toward his destination.  
  
The sun had begun to rise, sending cascades of orange and pink across the horizon. A new day was dawning... Come to think of it when was the last time he'd gotten any sleep? Oh well, plenty of time to sleep when you're dead.  
  
"Okonomiyaki sounds pretty good right now..."   
  
He began to head back to Ucchan's.  
  
----  
  
Contact Info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/ 


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer:   
  
Contact Info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/  
  
----  
  
Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days  
  
Chapter 8  
  
----  
  
He was surprised he had lasted this long. He was usually splashed at least once a day, or MORE. But after the accident, he'd went over two months without turning into P-chan. Granted, there had been many close calls but to completely avoid it...  
  
"Bwee." Ryouga snorted in his little piggy form. He had a lot to make up for.  
  
"Oh! Look at the cute little piggy!" A girl giggled and pointed to his pig form. Wait... girl?  
  
Ryouga glanced around his surroundings. He was in a bathhouse lined with girls. Naked bathing girls... Ryouga gulped. Why hadn't he been paying better attention?! He had just walked into the first door he had seen... damn it! Steaming baths lined every direction but his to right, where a screen separated the men's and women's sides. Dozens of eyes turned toward him. Girls set down their towels and stopped washing their hair.  
  
Choruses of 'Oh how cute!' and 'Ooooh I want to hug him!' oozed out of the crowd of girls that began to surround him.  
  
"Come here little piggy!" A short haired girl wrapped in a towel got on her hands and knees. "Come here, we won't hurt you!" She beckoned him with her hand.  
  
He had to get away! Ryouga desperately searched for a way out. Both exits were blocked. He was trapped. There was no way out. They were going to find out his secret and hate him... like everyone else would... He was DOOMED.   
  
The short haired girl picked him up. "Oooooo let's give him a bath!"   
  
The other girls in the room nodded in agreement. Ryouga desperately struggled to get out of the girl's grip, but for some reason he couldn't move. The hot water got closer and closer until it morphed into a large gaping pit. Infinite blackness reached down into eternity as Ryouga was held over the abyss. A red hand reached out from the darkness toward him.  
  
He had to get out. It couldn't end like this. Everyone would know. Akane would know. She'd hate him! Everyone would hate him. Ukyou would hate him. His only friend would hate him... No he couldn't let this happen! NO!  
  
She dropped him.  
  
"Noooooooooo!"   
  
Ryouga sat up from his futon.   
  
What the? It... had been that dream again.  
  
His clothes and blanket were drenched in sweat. His shivered in the cool night air. The images of his dream seemed burned into his mind. Someday that dream would end up being reality, he was sure of it, except it would be Akane dropping him into the pit of despair...  
  
---  
  
Ukyou knew she was going to have to apologize to him. But how was she going to find him? And what was all this crap about having a sense of direction? Next thing you know Genma will get the father of the year award, Kuno will become a priest, Nabiki will be helping orphans (for free!), and Ran-chan and Akane will run away and get married.  
  
A horrified expression crossed Ukyou's face. Ranma and Akane could really do that... She shuddered uncontrollably. That thought was going to give her nightmares for a couple weeks.  
  
Gah, and then they'd have kids; little pigtailed psychopaths wielding hammers, moving faster than the eye can see. They'd probably get her to baby sit too. For free!  
  
She slammed her spatula violently on the counter, spraying a nearby customer. Who was she kidding? She glared at the slightly splattered okonomiyaki and sighed. If they were Ranma's kids, they'd probably be cute too...  
  
Oh never mind. There was nothing she could do about it now. She had to bow out gracefully. If he was happy without her, than that's all she cared about. All her dreams didn't really matter in the end...   
  
Why was she worrying about this anyway? It hadn't even happened yet. She needed to deal with the problem at hand, mainly Ryouga. She'd just have to find him, walk up and say--  
  
"Ukyou, I'm sorry."  
  
No, that's not it. She'd say-- ...huh?  
  
"Ryouga?" She looked up and was welcomed with the site of Ryouga wiping batter off his face.  
  
"Listen Ukyou, I'm sorry about overreacting last week. I should have stayed and faced my problems like a man." Ryouga's face was grim like a man facing his death sentence head on. Obviously, the poor boy had spent too much time around Akane.  
  
"Um..." Ukyou blinked, performing an accurate impression of an animal caught in the headlights of a car. The expression should have been obvious to Ryouga, but as usual he was oblivious. Ukyou recovered and smiled.   
  
"That's all right Ryouga. I forgive you."  
  
"R-Really?" Ryouga frowned. This was suspiciously easy.   
  
"Sure! Forgive and forget and all that."  
  
"I guess." This coming from a girl that started on a quest for revenge at age five...  
  
Ukyou laughed, reached behind the counter, and turned off the grill. As soon as the grill clicked off, she scanned the restaurant. Only an older couple was left, and they were already picking up their coats. Perfect.   
  
"Hey Ryouga, are you doing anything today?" She walked out from behind the counter and flipped over the open sign to closed.  
  
"I suppose not." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Why do you ask?"   
  
He had a bad feeling about this.  
  
"Good!" Ukyou winked. "Because I'm taking you shopping!"  
  
Ryouga gulped. And today had looked like such a nice day...   
  
---  
  
Ryouga had thought he'd known true fear. After all the hardships he had endured during his life, he had been sure that nothing could faze him, but now he knew the truth. NO ONE, absolutely NO ONE has known true fear until they've went shopping with a girl.  
  
They had only just arrived and already he was afraid. There were all these people laughing and giggling, milling about in tight cramped herds fighting for the right for the best bargain in a cruel economic world. Stores upon stores lined either side of him like tangled masses of commerce. That week he had been lost in the jungle had nothing on this place... mainly because the jungle didn't have dozens upon dozens of giggling girls.  
  
"So Ryouga, ready to cut loose and have fun?" Ukyou smiled at Ryouga, slightly amused at his bewildered expression.  
  
"No, not really."  
  
"Well too bad! I'm going to get a smile out of you today if it's the last thing I do!" Ukyou exclaimed with the same vigor someone says 'Give me liberty or give me death!'. If they ever got into a war, Ryouga hoped he would be on Ukyou's side.  
  
"Sugar you know..." She had to put this delicately. "You need a haircut. You look kinda scruffy. When was the last time you got one anyway?"  
  
"Hey! I've had this haircut since junior high there's nothing wr--"  
  
"Exactly my point! Come on! We're going to get you spruced up." She grabbed his hand and dragged him in front of a nearby store. Double automatic glass doors slid aside as Ukyou walked in, dragging the reluctant Ryouga behind her.  
  
Loud chirpy pop music hit them like a wave. Posters of movie stars and various hair care products lined the walls. The floor was covered in a black and white checkered pattern, with little strands of hair on the ground that had missed the broom. On a far shelf, a row of mannequin heads stared back at the customers like a cosmetic shop of horrors.  
  
Ukyou grabbed Ryouga by the collar before he could get away.  
  
"Welcome!" A lady brandishing a pair of scissors stepped out of a back room. She wore jeans and a trendy T-shirt with American writing. Small silver clips kept a few strands of purple hair splattered to her head, while other strands flew loose in a gravity defying dance. Either that, or a furry purple creature had crawled into her head and made a nest. "How may I help you today?"  
  
Ukyou lightly shoved Ryouga forward. "We're here to get him a haircut. I apologize ahead of time if your scissors snap while cutting his hair."  
  
The hairdresser laughed good naturally and stepped up closer to her customers. She stopped a few feet from Ryouga and gave him a scrutinizing glance. "Wow. You're right. Maybe I should unpack the machete for this one."  
  
"Hey!" Ryouga felt a lump forming at the bottom of his stomach. She was kidding right? Yeah, who in their right mind would cut someone's hair with a machete? Kidding... yeah that was it. Although this was Nerima... They had martial arts ping pong for crying out loud. But she wouldn't get any business if she decapitated her customers all the time! But... Ahhh! What if those mannequin heads WERE previous customers?!  
  
"Ukyou! Wegottagetoutofhere! Orwe'llgetdecaptiatedandturnedintomanakinsand--"  
  
Ukyou smacked him in the head with a magazine. "Stop that."  
  
"Yes ma'am."  
  
"Darling I was just kidding!" The hairdresser put an arm around Ryouga's shoulders. "Calm down sweet cheeks. I'm not going to ruin your hair." She winked. "I'd never do that to the cute ones."  
  
Having Ryouga significantly subdued, and with possibly 98% of brain function temperately stopped, the hairdresser led him to a chair. Ukyou's eyes narrowed slightly at the hairdresser as Ryouga stumbled to his seat.  
  
"So what kind of hair cut does your boyfriend want?" The hairdresser looked back at Ukyou. After all, the man's opinion really didn't matter. He probably couldn't form sentences right now anyways.  
  
"He's not my boyfriend." Ukyou handed her a picture she had gotten out of a magazine. The clip had been one of many that she had struggled over. It was a shorter cut but not too drastic. She still wished she could have used the one with the clip on pigtail, but Ryouga never would have gone for that.  
  
"Yeah sure, whatever." She looked down at the picture and smiled. "Not bad. I can swing this." She swung the salon chair so Ryouga's back was to the sink. "Lean back so I can--"  
  
  
  
Life instantly returned to Ryouga's eyes.  
  
"GAHHH! NO! YOU CAN'T! WATER NO NO WATER err I mean..." The bandanna clad boy laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck.  
  
The hairdresser blinked at the hysterical boy and looked at Ukyou. "What's wrong with him?"  
  
"I have no idea."  
  
----  
  
An hour later, Ryouga and Ukyou walked out of the salon. Ryouga touched his newly cut hair in trepidation. It felt so... weird. It had been thinned out and shortened considerably. While not enough to be called a buzz cut, his head felt lighter. The hairdresser had turned it slightly spiky, with two long pieces falling by each of his eyebrows.  
  
The hair cut really wasn't that bad. The shorter length allowed him to see better, even with his bandanna. He was still wearing his favorite piece of yellow and black cloth, much to the hairdresser's annoyance. He didn't need it anymore, but he couldn't stand not wearing it. Without it he felt... naked, not exactly like himself.  
  
It wasn't the worst of his problems, though. After his refusal to get his haircut unless they used hot water, Ukyou seemed suspicious. He'd tried the perfectly logical excuse that he hadn't wanted cold water because it would have given him a cold and then he'd get sick with malaria and die, but Ukyou didn't seem to buy it. She had said something about malaria coming from mosquitoes and DRINKING water... whatever. Had she had malaria? How was she supposed to now?  
  
But she kept staring at him, like he had done something wrong. Could she know? No! There was no way she could know! She hadn't tried to stab him with anything sharp and jagged or strangle him so she couldn't know. There was no way she could know about P-chan... Still, she kept giving him these odd looks from the corner of her eye.  
  
She might suspect, but she couldn't know anything. He could just have aqua phobia. He could of uh... almost drowned as a kid! Yeah that would work! He could have almost drowned in an uh... ice cold pool in the middle of winter?  
  
"Hey, Ryouga." Ukyou looked up at him and smiled, dragging him from his reverie. For some reason, Ryouga felt his throat catch. Maybe he was getting a cold after all...  
  
"Y-Yeah?"  
  
She brandished another of her cute girl smiles. "Wanna get something to eat?"  
  
"But..." Ryouga scowled. "Listen Ukyou, you've been really nice, but I couldn't impose on you anymore and--"  
  
"That's why you're paying for it." She winked unnervingly at him. "Friends help each other out right?"  
  
"I guess." Friends also didn't force each other to get haircuts they didn't want. Then again, he wasn't entirely sure. He didn't have much experience to look back on.  
  
"Ok. What should we eat?" Ukyou turned a corner, followed closely by Ryouga. They entered in a large eating plaza. Different restaurants, lined the walls. Ryouga didn't really care where they went.  
  
"I dunno, just as long as it has nothing to do with bread or pork..." Ryouga shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"Man, Ryouga who died? You always sound so grim." Ukyou rolled her eyes. Could Ryouga possibly be more of a drag?  
  
"Um... _I_ almost did." Ryouga's face soured even more.  
  
Ukyou sighed. "Were you always this bad?"  
  
Ryouga's eyes glazed over slightly as his mind flashed to an image of his six year old self, running up to his mother to give her a flower. She had looked so peaceful that day, so full of life. It wasn't fair...  
  
"Ryouga?" Ukyou's concerned voice cut through his reverie. His eyes refocused to find Ukyou's concerned face glancing at him from his right.  
  
"Oh sorry. I got distracted." He pointed to a random restaurant to his right, hoping to change the subject. "How about we eat there? It looks ok."  
  
Not waiting for her answer, he turned and walked toward the restaurant briskly. Ukyou gazed at his retreating form for a moment then jogged back up to his side. Ryouga was acting strangely, even for him. But then again, she didn't really now him that well... Perhaps, this was who he really was?  
  
This boy that she had been hanging around with all day... he seemed nothing like the powerhouse of destruction she had known before. Had he changed that drastically in such a short period of time? Or was the person she had thought she'd known before only a shadow of the real Ryouga Hibiki? He acted so differently when he was around Ranma or Akane... or when he was fighting something.  
  
He wasn't that bad of a guy when he wasn't trying to kill someone or ruin a relationship. Or both at the same time...  
  
"Um, this is ok isn't it?" He stopped in front of the entrance and looked back at Ukyou. He thought he was supposed to ask her opinion. He ate by himself mostly so the situation felt really odd to him.  
  
"Sure! Looks great." She stepped through the entrance and into the restaurant. The restaurant was fairly plain, with western style booths and tables. Ukyou picked a booth next to the window and sat down. Ryouga sat down opposite to her, awkwardly.  
  
A moment of silence stretched between the two like a valley. Ryouga picked up his menu and glanced at it. The food listed was mostly average Japanese foods with a few western dishes thrown in.  
  
"Excuse me." A waiter cleared his throat as he approached their table. "May I take your order please?"  
  
"Yeah, I'll have a number three." Ukyou handed her menu to the waiter.  
  
"I'll have that too." Ryouga sat his menu on top of Ukyou's. It didn't really matter to him what he ate, just as long as it didn't turn him into anything or have any mind altering effects as food from Nerima was ought to do. Besides, after having eaten so many of Akane's meals, food didn't taste the same as it used to...  
  
The waiter turned and walked back to the kitchen, leaving the two alone. Another uncomfortable silence ensued.  
  
"So..." Ukyou idly traced the wood grains of the table with her finger, which Ryouga deftly tried not to watch. The tension in the room was almost liquid in its intensity. "What um... are you going to do now?"  
  
"Now?" Ryouga blinked.  
  
"Well, you've got a sense of direction now don't you?" She rested her chin on her hand. "Aren't you going to... I dunno start your life anew or something?"  
  
"Start my life anew? How can I possibly put my life back together after Ran-"  
  
Ukyou held up a fork in a threatening manner. "Stop it. I don't want to hear it."  
  
"But-"  
  
"No."  
  
"Just lis-"  
  
"No."  
  
"Hey! Stop tha-"  
  
"No." Ukyou's grin spread wider in mischievous glee. This was fun! He was getting all flustered. It was really empowering.  
  
"Did you know you're evil?" Ryouga pouted. Although, he considered the expression to be an intimidating glare, only wusses pouted.  
  
"You didn't answer my question." She waved her fork like weapon in the air. "What are you going to do with your life?"  
  
"I... don't know." His gaze drifted away. "I just... never thought about it seriously."  
  
"Getting a sense of direction must mean something right? Maybe the Gods have something else planned for you?" Ukyou's smile faded as she noticed something in Ryouga's eyes. It glinted in his green orbs for only a second, but had been there. It was... pain and a speck of fear. His scowl quickly fell back into place, so she couldn't be sure...  
  
"I don't believe in the Gods. No ethereal beings are controlling my destiny."  
  
Ukyou shrugged. If he was going to act like this, there was no reason to keep egging him on. She didn't know how he could think that, after all they'd seen and experienced. Curses, evil ghosts etc., they'd seen it all. What other reason could there be for it but as a big joke by the Gods?  
  
"Well how about going back to school? I know you could get into Furinken." A psychotic monkey strapped with explosives could get into Furinken. If Ryouga studied, he could probably get in.  
  
"I'd like that, but there are a couple of things I have to do first."  
  
Ukyou couldn't resist any longer. "Like jump into the Spring of Drowned Man?"  
  
Ryouga's heart fell down to his ankles.  
  
"What?! I d-d-don't know what your talking about!" Ryouga heart jumped back into his chest, shattered, and reformed itself. He forgot to breathe for a few minutes. The lights dimmed. The world inverted. In other words, some serious shit went down.  
  
Ryouga looked around frantically. She needed to be distracted! Yeah! Something! Anything!  
  
Like a beacon of light on a dark and stormy night, the waiter came out of the back room carrying their orders on a tray. Never has a fat Japanese guy looked more like a heaven sent savior. Well, Buddha comes close.  
  
"Look! It's the waiter guy!" The slightly crazed bandanna clad boy jumped to his feet. "Thank you waiter guy!"  
  
The poor waiter fell to the ground as Ryouga ripped the tray from his hands and hopped over his prone body. He sat down the tray as fast as he could, jumped back into the booth, and began to stuff his face.  
  
"Can't eat and talk at the same time!... Gosh darn it. Guess I'll just have to stop talking." Ryouga snapped his fingers in mock grief and resumed stuffing his face very slowly, it wouldn't do to finish his food before his curious companion did.  
  
Ukyou narrowed her eyes. "Uh huh."  
  
Ryouga rubbed the back of his neck and laughed nervously.  
  
----  
  
Ryouga experienced many things in his sixteen years of life. He'd seen places that few men alive have beheld, mystical magic and supernatural occurrences, experienced things that defy logic, and push the boundaries of human existence. He'd even eaten Akane's cooking and still lived.  
  
But all that meant nothing, when faced with a young woman who, deprived of feminine things throughout most of her childhood, was suddenly given a life sized Ken doll to play with... Hopefully she wouldn't pop off his head or anything.  
  
"Hey Ryouga!"  
  
Ryouga grimaced as Ukyou threw another pile of cloths at his face.  
  
"Try these on too ok?" Ukyou, temporarily overcome by the haze that is mall shopping, piled a few more clothes for Ryouga to try on upon the ever growing mountain of men's clothing.  
  
"A-All of these?!"  
  
The mountain of clothes threatened to bury Ryouga and everyone else within a fifty feet radius.  
  
"Yeah, come out and show me each one after you try them on." Ukyou smiled and shoved him toward the changing rooms.  
  
Enough was enough! She couldn't keep pushing him around like this!  
  
"Ukyou I-"  
  
"Please?"  
  
"O-ok." Damn it! She did it again!  
  
Downcast, Ryouga shuffled back to the changing rooms.  
  
Three minutes later...  
  
"I don't like this." Ryouga looked at himself in the mirror. "I don't look like myself."  
  
His reflection, wearing a black shirt, camouflaged pants, and combat boots, glared back at him. Something wasn't right... he looked really weird... almost like someone else. Ukyou glanced over at the mirror and grimaced.  
  
"You're right. Don't know what I was thinking." Ukyou shrugged as Ryouga walked back to the increasingly familiar room to try something else on.  
  
Outside the store on an escalator, Ryu Kumon did a double-take, tripped, and fell face down to the bottom floor.  
  
Three minutes later...  
  
Ukyou sat a magazine she had been reading down as Ryouga approached.  
  
"Wow Ryouga! You look great!"  
  
"..."  
  
"You don't like it do you?"  
  
"..."  
  
"I probably should have known you wouldn't like a Chinese shirt huh?"  
  
"..."  
  
"Oh stop pouting... big baby. Fine, go try something else on."  
  
"..." was Ryouga's eloquent reply as he shuffled back to the changing rooms like a man on his last legs.  
  
----  
  
  
  
Four Hours later...  
  
"I forgot how much fun shopping can be." Ukyou breathed in the cool, fresh night air. The summer breeze ruffled her hair and tickled her face, bracing her for what she had to do next. It was such a shame too, this day had been nearly perfect.  
  
It was hard. She hadn't expected to have such a good time. What had started out as charity had turned out to be... something more. She had never had that many friends. Ranma had been one of a very few, especially when she went to that all boys school. She couldn't get close to anyone for fear they'd find out her secret. Before that, all her time was taken up training and taking care of her father.  
  
Shopping had actually been fun, maybe there was something to all that girlie stuff after all.   
  
Ryouga for his part looked like a man that had barely escaped hell. He was REALLY overreacting. His attitude had been rather embarrassing. But after awhile, he had stopped complaining out loud and Ukyou could see that he wasn't as miserable as he was trying to put on. When they had went to the arcade and cleaned out the UFO catcher machine, she could have sworn he had almost stopped scowling.  
  
It didn't sound like much, but Ukyou had decided to count it as progress.   
  
The two walked side by side, Ryouga wearing his new clothes. The large bag of plushie Ukyou had won, swished by her side as she walked.  
  
As for Ryouga, he too was going over the days events.  
  
After awhile, he had been able to relax more. He wasn't sure when it had happened, but somewhere between trying on all those damn clothes and eating bad mall junk food, he stopped being miserable. He wasn't going to let Ukyou know that of course. That might ruin his angry anti-mall image and he couldn't have that. Heh, It was almost like him and Ukyou had gone out on a date or something... but they didn't! Gah! No no no! They didn't. Ukyou was a friend... it had been just friends going out and spending money on the Hibiki platinum gold Visa card.  
  
Heh, his dad was going to kill him when he saw the bill... if he could find him that is... which he can't... heh heh heh.  
  
Ryouga smiled softly.  
  
His cloths felt weird. He missed his trusty yellow shirt and green pants, even his bandanna was gone. It mysteriously vanished... He suspected foul play, but the evil okonomiyaki chef wasn't talking. But that was fine, he had copies of the same outfit at his house. Maybe he'd go back there sometime soon. After all, he could find it now.  
  
The bandanna that he had decided to buy was a simple white bandanna with black lettering. A Chinese character for the future was printed in neat script on the cloth's surface. At least, he _thought_ that's what it said. He wasn't very good at Chinese... if it said something like 'jackass' he was going to get angry.  
  
He admitted to himself grudgingly, that he did like the cloths. His new black leather boots were small enough not to hinder his movements, but sturdy enough to work as good hiking boots. His new pair of black pants fit perfectly, not too tight or too baggy. The material was flexible enough for him to kick a certain pigtailed boy in the head if he needed to without ripping a seam. His new shirt was just a plain white muscle shirt, but it was comfortable and cheap. It felt great to let his arms be free in the cool late spring air. When the weather changed he would need to get a jacket, but for now he'd revel in the feeling of the breeze brushing against his arms.  
  
Life was... almost not bad.  
  
The two companions turned a corner, entering into a small park. An old, rusted swing-set lay solitary in the middle of a green field. Trees clustered along the path, their green leaves glistened with newly fallen dew.  
  
Impulsively, Ukyou walked over and sat in one of the swing-set seats. Wrapping her hands around the rust coated chains, she let herself gently swing and gazed at the ground.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" Ryouga walked over and sat in the swing next to Ukyou, feeling like an oversized kid. Another moment of silence followed. Uncomfortable with the lack of conversation, he decided to employ the Hibiki conversation technique: Start babbling incoherently and hope your companion takes pity on your pathetic self and intervenes.  
  
"I uh, thought it was weird that you ate something other than okonomiyaki. Maybe you're like that Pickle Prince guy... what's his name, and you're having some kind of reaction... uh... or not. Eh... or you could have swallowed one of those mind altering pills that Happosai had... what ever happened to him anyway? Haven't seen that sadistic bastard for awhile... maybe he died that would be nice or-"  
  
"Ryouga..." Ukyou broke into his rant, her voice strained with emotion. "R-Ranma loves Akane."  
  
Ryouga blinked. "What?"  
  
"Akane loves Ranma, Ranma loves Akane. I saw them on the night of your accident. Damn it, they love each other Ryouga. It's not just an infatuation either. They're truly, madly, deeply in love; sacrifice your life for each other kind of love."  
  
Ryouga watched in a daze of unreality as tears began to stream down Ukyou's cheeks.  
  
"And there's nothing we can do about it. They love each other and they're going to die loving each other. Hell, I don't even want to break them up. I just-" Ukyou swallowed as her emotions began to overwhelm her. "I just wanna see Ran-chan happy... even if it's not with me."  
  
She choked on a sob and fell silent as her salty tears ran down her face and onto the ground.  
  
Ryouga sat numbly in shock, unaware of... everything. This couldn't be true. It couldn't be! Akane love Ranma?! No! Maybe Ranma could love Akane... he had always suspected it deep inside, but Akane could never love him back! She hated him! It couldn't be true! Nonononono!  
  
It made no sense! She never acted like she was... well there were those times when she'd be looking at Ranma when she thought no one was paying attention... and sometimes when she'd talk to P-chan about him her voice sounded so sad... oh god no! Why?! It wasn't fair! He was never nice to her, or treated her with respect... Why... how could she love Ranma?! It wasn't fair!  
  
He clenched his fist tightly and felt the cold sting of metal biting into his palms. Above him, the mocking stars shone brightly. He really hated those things.  
  
As if hearing his thoughts, dark clouds rolled in from the west blocking the stars out... dark black rain clouds...  
  
"Oh shi-"  
  
A downpour started, soaking Ukyou to the bone. She turned to ask Ryouga if he was ok-  
  
But he wasn't there... only...  
  
"... R-Ryouga? YOU'RE P-chan?"  
  
"Bwee?"  
  
----  
  
Contact Info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/ 


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma. Bla bla bla.  
  
Ashes: Damn fic! How dare you make me rewrite you 8 times!  
  
Fic: *sweatdrop*  
  
Contact Info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/  
  
-----  
  
Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days  
  
Chapter 9  
  
----  
  
It rained.  
  
In Nerima, it didn't only rain, it poured. Torrential sheets of water pelted the earth, creating small lakes and rivers in the cracked sidewalks. The rain was... painful. It wasn't because of Ryouga's smaller body, but because of what it reminded him of.   
  
He was a coward. If he had just told Akane, things wouldn't be like this. If he'd had the courage to tell the truth and stop pretending, he wouldn't be here right now. Ukyou wouldn't have left...  
  
He wished she had just hit him. Physical pain he could deal with. It was like a brother almost. As long as he could remember there had been pain, and he could deal with that. But... that look. Oh man, that look she had given him...  
  
He was nothing.  
  
"Ryouga?"  
  
He looked up to see Ukyou holding an umbrella over his small form. Rain dripped down her face. Politely, she turned her head, closed her eyes, and overturned a canteen onto his head. Ryouga felt the warm water course down his body as the change occurred. Quickly as possible he redressed, careful to stay underneath the umbrella. After he was finished, he lifted the umbrella from Ukyou's grasp, lightly brushing her fingertips with his own.  
  
"Thanks," Ryouga whispered. He couldn't look up at her. Hell, he didn't even deserve to look at her.  
  
"Ryouga. Look at me."   
  
Against his own will, his gaze shifted upward meeting her deep brown eyes. Immediately, he wished he hadn't.  
  
"Ow!" Someone pulling on your ear like that really hurt.   
  
"How could you?" Her eyes blinked as a few stray water droplets got entangled in her eyelashes. "Akane's never been my favorite person but... Ryouga it's just wrong. Akane thinks of you as a friend and... how can you lie to her like that? How could you sleep in her bed?! That's sick! She trusted you! She thought you were a good guy!"  
  
"It's not like that! I never tried anything. Hell, I'd even turn around when she changed her socks! It wasn't like that. I didn't mean for it to... it just happened. It started as an accident and... I couldn't get out of the grave I'd dug. I tried but--" The rain started to soak through Ukyou's cloths, dripping down to puddles at her feet. Concerned, Ryouga stepped close to her, using the umbrella to cover them both.  
  
"I thought she could love me ya know?" He laughed softly, the expression sounded empty. He paused a moment to angrily wipe a few stray tears from his cheeks. "I know she doesn't now. Maybe I knew then, but I wanted to believe. Pitiful isn't it?"  
  
"Yeah, sugar. It's pitiful to mistake friendship for love." Ukyou grabbed the umbrella handle, helping him to support the weight, or maybe to support her own weight. She wasn't sure.  
  
"I didn't mean you." Ryouga sighed and stared at Ukyou in concern. She was starting to shiver. It was ok for him to feel pain, he deserved it. He'd probably go blow something up in a few minutes. But, he didn't want to drag Ukyou down with him. She was different, stronger. She didn't deserve to be hurt. Damn Saotome! Feh, who was he kidding? He should be damned too! Damned for not being able to do anything about it. Damned for not telling Akane. Damn... damn everything damn it!  
  
"Yeah whatever."  
  
"It's not like I didn't try to tell her! Ranma would always--"  
  
"Ranma knows too?!"  
  
Whoops. Oh well, might as well drag Ranma down too. "Yeah, he knows."  
  
"What the fu--" Whoa, Ukyou could cuss like a sailor. "That jackass! YOUR'RE BOTH JACKASSES! DID EVERYONE BUT ME AND AKANE KNOW?!"  
  
"No... most don't know. It's not something I flaunt around." Unlike some people who flashed their chests to win fights and get free food! "Shampoo knows. She tried to cook me once. Uh, Cologne knows. I think Mousse knows. Mr. Saotome might know. I'm pretty sure Mr. Tendo knows which is weird, ya know. I don't know about Nabiki and Kasumi and uh--" Ahh! He said too much again! Stop talking mouth! Stop!  
  
"You... you..." Ukyou tensed up tightly for a long moment and then sighed, letting it go. To hell with it. She was tired, tired of fiancées, tired of curses, tired of fighting, tired of love, tired of everything. She was sick of liars, secrets, and the whole damn messed up town. All she had wanted was to have a successful restaurant, get married, and have some kids. Was that too much to ask? Hell no. She couldn't even have a friend without him turning into a perverted liar who sleeps with girls as a little black pig. But hey, what was Ryouga to her? Her debt was probably repaid already. Hell, he'd even denounced her debt to him several times. So what was he to her?  
  
Nothing.   
  
She didn't care what happened to him. No she didn't care at all.  
  
"Ukyou, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. Are you going to tell Akane?"  
  
No she didn't care one bit. Natta. Zilch. Zippo.  
  
"I don't know... probably not."  
  
Nope that look of grief stricken pain wasn't bothering her one bit.  
  
"T-thank you. I wouldn't blame you if you did. It's what I deserve, but... please don't hurt Akane. I know you probably hate her, but she isn't a bad person. She doesn't deserve for my cowardice to cause her pain. It'll hurt Ranma too ya know... just... please don't tell her. Nothing good can really come of it. Please?"  
  
Awwwww, damn it. That bothered her a bit.  
  
"Whatever. I won't. But that doesn't mean I'm not mad at you! Just--Gah! Forget it!" She threw her hands up in frustration. She wasn't going to deal with this. Not now. She was tired, she was going to go home, eat some ice cream, and go to bed. She'd deal with life in the morning.  
  
Leaving the sanctuary of the umbrella, she turned and walked into the rain. Ryouga watched her begin to walk away. She waved her hand in a dismissive manner without looking back. "I'm going home."  
  
Ryouga winced as if he'd been slapped. Ukyou sneezed in the distance, shivering slightly from the rain. She was going to get sick if she walked all the way in the rain.  
  
Silently, Ryouga jogged up to her and shielded her with his umbrella.  
  
"I said I was going home." Ukyou glared at him. Ryouga averted his eyes, opting to stare at the pattern of cracks that encompassed the sidewalk.  
  
"Fine. Hate me. Just... use the umbrella ok?"  
  
Ukyou's eyes softened a bit.  
  
Twenty minutes later, Ukyou stood behind the threshold of her restaurant watching Ryouga disappear into the night. She sighed and stood silently for a moment.  
  
"Idiot, I don't hate you." She closed the door and walked back into her restaurant. There had better be some ice-cream in the fridge...  
  
----  
  
Being alone forever. The possibility had never felt real until now. Before, there was always a destination after the long journey, somewhere to look forward to. He had always believed deep inside that eventually, he would find someone, somewhere. He had clung to that small hope.  
  
Not anymore.   
  
He knew the truth. He could die a lonely old man in some cold dark house. Heh, or more likely a ditch. He could live the rest of his life alone. Alone... again. Forever alone. The thought was... terrifying.  
  
And also made him glow quite a bit.  
  
Boom!  
  
Ryouga closed his umbrella and sat it on the top of his pack as his Shi Shi Hodokan died down. From the look of the clouds, the rain had stopped for the night. Nerima's weather patterns were often erratic at best. One moment it would seem like you would need to build an ark, the next second the rain vanished.   
  
Sighing, Ryouga made sure to walk around the crater he had created moments before. The park had needed a new lake anyway.  
  
"IT'S NOT FAIR!" Ryouga kicked down a trashcan, sending the ruined piece of metal into his newly formed lake. Damn him! Ranma Saotome would never have to worry about being alone! Ranma had what, like three hundred fiancées? Why the hell did he have to take the one he was in love with? Stingy bastard! Out of all those girls, he had to choose the only one that Ryouga was in love with?! Heaven help him, he better take care of her or Ryouga promised to himself that he would make Saotome wish he had never been born.  
  
...even more than he usually did.  
  
Ryouga walked over to a bench that had survived his rein of terror, and sank into the wooden frame. What was the point of it all? Life was a farce. You were given this wonderful gift of life, only to realize there's a warranty, limited terms of service, no damn refunds, and about to be repossessed at anytime.  
  
Ryouga wiped the cold sweat off his brow. His life was nothing. What did he have? His parents were lost... literally and figuratively. He had a junior high level education. He wasn't good for anything but fighting, and he couldn't even be the best at that.  
  
Ranma was better than him at everything, except maybe manners and even then it was iffy. Ranma didn't have to worry about being alone... no. Ranma went to school. He had an inheritance of a dojo, a future. Ranma would notice those two people in the bushes that were about to attack him right off. Ranma would--  
  
Shit.  
  
Ryouga threw himself to the ground as something collided into the bench he had been sitting in moments before. The last surviving piece of park equipment shattered into tiny splinters. He rolled with his fall, landing back on his feet, and turned toward his attackers.  
  
He raised an eyebrow. What the--?  
  
A man and a woman stood in front of him, covered head to toe in black. They nearly blended into the night shadows. Thin jagged scars crisscrossed their faces, too deliberate to be accidental. The slender cuts swept from forehead to chin in graceful arcs like a mad painter's brush. The woman sneered, in what had once been a pretty face. A long ebony hair fell across her shoulders. A whip swayed from side to side, dangling playfully from her palm. The moonlight reflected off of several jagged pieces of metal on the whip, creating a slight strobe light effect. Her companion towered over her at nearly seven feet tall. He carried a club with similar pieces of jagged metal embedded into it, only larger and sharper. It was the kind of thing that was made to stab someone in the skull with.  
  
Either those were more evil cult guys, or an S&M convention had just let out downtown.  
  
In one fluid motion, Ryouga dropped his pack, and fell into a fighting position. His umbrella was useless. His original one was still stuck in the side door of that semi. His new one wouldn't be able to stand up to 'stab you in the forehead' kinda clubs.  
  
Then the woman did something she really shouldn't have been able to do--  
  
She giggled.  
  
"Hello!" She smiled like a version of Kasumi that had been dragged through the bowels of hell and enjoyed every minute of it. "How are you today?"  
  
How was he today?! What kind of damn question was that?!   
  
She tilted her head to the side in an expression of innocence that had no right to be on her sadistically scarred face. "Is it all right if we kill you?"  
  
All right? ...oooooookay.  
  
"Um no it's not." Ryouga sidestepped to his right a few feet, trying to get distance between himself and his... what the hell were they to him anyway? Polite cultist attackers?  
  
The creepy cultist chic pouted. Her companion shook his head sadly, and grinned, revealing sharpened teeth. In fact, all his teeth came to points. Ah hell. That was definitely of the ungood. The crazy girl giggled again. "Oh my. That just will not do. Orders and all. No hard feelings all righty?"   
  
The two exploded into motion.  
  
That big guy shouldn't have been able to move that fast. Ryouga lost sight of the woman as the large guy lunged. He ducked the first wild swing of the club and the ensuing punch. The big guy flicked a piece of glass at Ryouga suddenly in the flurry of motion. The small piece imbedded into his thigh, but he paid it no notice. It was easy enough. This was the testing part. The smaller of the two was hanging back, evaluating him. Heh, there wouldn't be any need for that. This fight was going to end... NOW.  
  
Ryouga grabbed the large guy's hand, smashing him in the forehead with his own club. There it was done. One down, one to--  
  
The man stood his ground, looking up at Ryouga with twin puncture wounds on his forehead. Two small trickles of blood ran down his forehead and into his eyes. "Heh. Heh. Heh. Heh." His laughing came out as jagged gasps. His grin spread wider as he dropped his voice to a whisper. "Do it again."   
  
Riiiiight. Because bleeding was SO much fun.  
  
A black shadow appeared suddenly at the edge of Ryouga's vision. It instantly shot out a whip. Ryouga ducked at the last moment, feeling the whip cut the air above him with a snap. He stood up quickly--  
  
And immediately regretted it as the larger man in front of him caught the whip and slammed it into his neck. Colors that weren't normally part of the spectrum flashed across his eyes as he slammed into the ground. As a last desperate measure, he pulled a trump card.  
  
"BAKSAI TENKETSU!"  
  
The Cultists were flung violently away. Ryouga gasped desperately for breath as debris and dust rained from overhead. He forced down a gagging reflex from the dirt he had accidentally inhaled. The sharp bits of rock flying through the air were inconsequential. Coughing several times, he rolled backwards onto his feet. His face darkened as he felt dark emotions welling up within him.  
  
He was more than pissed. So they wanted to kill him? Fine, that's ok. Hit him with their sharp jagged little weapons? Good for them. Terrorize the local populace? Have at it.   
  
But no one... ABSOLUTLEY NO ONE... CLOTHESLINES RYOUGA HIBIKI!   
  
Silently, he slid a few bandannas from his forehead and began to twirl them. The big guy was getting up. How nice. A large lumbering target to pummel into the ground. Hopefully, he already made peace with whatever Gods he believed in.  
  
Before the man could take a step near him, the air was already alive with dozens of buzzing bandannas. The park was filled with the low buzzing sound, like a hoard of killer bees. With a flick of his wrist, Ryouga sent them airborne.  
  
The man smirked and dodged a few of the bandannas, letting some rip his clothing. They were such small things. Pitiful really.   
  
"Is this all you have for me? So disappoint--" He was cut off as Ryouga jumped through the cloud of yellow and black cloth, his own body chi canceling out the bandannas. The cultist doubled backward and Ryouga grabbed a handful of the guy's hair on the way down, letting gravity do his work for him.  
  
The cultist's body slammed into the ground, shattering rock and uplifting dirt, then fell instantly still. Ryouga turned his back to the newly formed lake.  
  
Ah, nothing like bashing someone's head in to cheer a guy up.  
  
The guy was out for real this time, there had been this sickening crunching sound. Did he kill him? He hoped he didn't kill him... maimed sure. But kill? His thoughts were cut off as the whip lashed out at him again from his right. He barely brought his hand up in time.  
  
Ryouga felt sharp pieces of glass pierce his skin as the whip wound around his forearm. Pinpricks of pain ripped through his brain. The whip tightened, cutting into his flesh like small teeth. But it was nothing. They could do nothing to him that he hadn't already experienced.  
  
But it still hurt like hell.  
  
His hand wrapped around the whip deliberately, ignoring the searing pain igniting in his palms and pulled--  
  
And it would have sent the assailant flying through the air quite nicely if the cult member hadn't attacked with her OTHER whip. Mousse must have been giving lessons. The other whip swung out and locked both of his arms together.  
  
"No Fair!"   
  
The crazed girl exploded into giggles again. "Fair? I suppose I could make it more... "fair" for you." She smiled slyly.  
  
"Whatever." Ryouga dropped to his back unexpectedly and flung her over his head using the ropes. Instead of the expected impact into the tree behind him, she kicked off the wall and landed behind him.  
  
A plan suddenly came to him. This whole "plan" feeling was rather new, but who knows? Maybe it could work.  
  
"Is this fairer?" She wrapped her arms around his neck, trapping his arms behind his back. His shoulder ligaments pulled in directions they weren't meant to go. Before he could even twitch a muscle his felt the cold bite of metal against his neck. He glanced down and saw a small slender knife pointed at his jugular. "See? Isn't this better, sweetheart? Now my arms are busy too."  
  
"Let me go, or I'll kill you." Ryouga was barely able to keep his voice even. He wasn't fast, and he had never been fast. There was no way he could get to the knife before she slit his throat. Heh, it was funny really. Even with all the training he had gone through, he could still die if someone slit his throat, just like everyone else.  
  
"Tee hee. But that's my line." The knife tip made small circles on his throat near his pulse. Ryouga involuntarily shivered.  
  
"Let go." Unlike, Ranma, Ryouga had no qualms about hitting girl fighters. After all, Ranma had never been a little pig in the hands of Azusa. Ugh, Ryouga shivered. Just at the thought of her name he felt a new wave of depression hit him. USEFUL depression...  
  
The psycho seemed to get a kick out of that. "Well gee, why?"  
  
It was hard to breathe...just like that time with the collar...   
  
"SHISHI HOUDOKAN!"   
  
He remembered in the fleeting second as he saw a large wave rise above his head that he had been directly behind his new lake. Then his world was engulfed into oblivion.  
  
He awoke later. He didn't know how much later, the moon was a bit farther into the night sky. His small body bobbed up and down in the moonlit lake. He glared at the stars for a moment, in his normal hatred for life. Apparently, he had just traded one curse for another. Why couldn't he trade the stupid pig one instead? Why was he here anyway? Oh yeah. That evil cult thing. Rrrrrright. He numbly rolled over and swam to the nearest shore. Everything was numb; his body, his mind... everything. The Shi Shi Hodokan did that. Took away the pain. Heh, also took away the happiness too. But he didn't have much to be happy about lying in the mud as a pig in some park on the outskirts of Nerima. But well... Oh well. It didn't matter.  
  
He expertly trotted to his pack and pulled his thermos of warm water out of his pack with his teeth. A few minutes later, he was human again.  
  
The knife happy one was long gone. Crimson droplets littered the ground. Whoever's blood it was, Ryouga didn't know. It was most likely a little of each. The bigger guy's body still lay on the ground. He walked over and squinted at him in the darkness. The guy was still breathing... well whatta ya know. He wasn't a murderer. Check one box in the 'things that didn't completely suck' category.  
  
Ryouga scowled at the darkness in the distance. The forest on the edge of his vision seemed to stretch on forever. He sighed and lightly kicked the unconscious body of the big bulky cult guy. Great. Just FREAKIN great. He would have to mark this day on the calendar and celebrate it every year. He bent down in the ground and picked up the end of a small, nearly translucent piece of thread. Now that's a first. His plan actually worked. Either that, or the psycho actually wanted him to find her. Maybe he should try this whole 'using his brain thing' more often.  
  
Leaving the other guy behind (someone would _probably_ find him), he began to follow the unraveled string. He didn't begin to notice the gray lining around the edge of his vision for quite awhile...  
  
----  
  
Contact Info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/ 


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Whatever. I don't own Ranma 1/2.  
  
Contact Info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/  
  
----  
  
Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days  
  
Chapter 10  
  
----  
  
He was following. Which was nice. She knew he'd follow, just like a lamb. Leaving behind her companion was unfortunate, but necessary. He shouldn't have gotten hit. Besides, he'd never been that great of a working partner. He sucked at scrabble. Totally sucked.  
  
Oh well. Going it alone did make things harder for her, but she could handle it. However, that wasn't the worst part.  
  
The bandanna boy had splattered blood all over her outfit and bloodstains were ever so hard to get out.  
  
That bastard.  
  
But, oh well! She would have to get a new outfit. Or make one! Making clothes was fun! Almost as fun as making people bleed, but then, it made such a mess too. Life was so complicated.  
  
The bandanna boy was following. That was all that mattered. The master would be happy. Of course, no pretty blood would be splattered if the master was happy... unless he was REALLY happy. Oh joy! Perhaps, things were looking up after all.  
  
----  
  
His hand hurt, really bad. His leg hurt. His whole damn body hurt. Which meant someone else would have to hurt much, much, worse to make up for it. Leaving his pack hidden in a bush had been a necessary evil. Hell, the feeling that he got after leaving it was worth it in itself. He would actually be able to FIND the damn thing later. It felt wonderful, almost like being a normal person.  
  
And then he remembered about the whole "going crazy-brain-splitting visions-got attacked by a cult-turn into a pig-part" and the feeling went away.  
  
He could tell it was about midnight by the position of the moon. Dark clouds had rolled over, obscuring bits of it. Starlight flickered periodically through the clouds. Shadows slithered across the trees as Ryouga jumped from branch to branch.  
  
Branch jumping wasn't something he would normally do. It was much easier to just walk on the ground and beat senseless whatever animal you might accidentally step on. However, the longer he followed the better at it he was becoming. A lot of concentration was needed, though. Hibiki's just weren't naturally sneaky and stealthy. There had been too many generations of ancestors who liked to knock down trees and throw large rocks at their enemies, he supposed.  
  
He landed soundlessly on a branch and stopped a moment to listen to his surroundings. A few night animals whistled and croaked into the night, but all else was quiet. He narrowed his eyes and tried to feel any ki in the area. All those martial artists did it in movies right? Why couldn't he do it?  
  
At first he felt nothing. He strained harder, trying to push his senses to the limit. It was like the Baksai Tenketsu. The universe was all part of a flow and you just had to see that flow. A bead of sweat rolled down his brow. He almost gave up until finally, a presence flickered in the distance. It was brief and shadowy, but he had felt it.  
  
Take that Ranma Saotome.  
  
He was far from Nerima now. They had been traveling east and then northwest for quite awhile. Which was so cool! East! Northwest! Those were real directions! Not just imaginary ideas like he had thought all along! It was amazing!  
  
But err, that wasn't important. Back to the being stealthy, going after evil cult thing, and uh... fighting for justice and stuff.  
  
He jumped branches for a few more minutes, carefully making no sound. Finally, he paused for a moment and squinted his eyes. A row of lights was in the distance. Three small orbs of white light pulsed like fireflies. Three dark cloaked figures stood in front of what looked like the front of a bunker, guarding it. He unconsciously held his breath as the crazy girl with the whip walked up to the four. Or was it three? Huh, that was odd. His eyes went blurry for a second. Never mind.  
  
They seemed to talk for a moment then obediently stepped away from the door. The girl turned and winked at the forest, then walked through the dark recesses of the door.  
  
Oh great. Just great. And here he thought he was being stealth guy. Yet another short-lived ego bubble, burst all to hell.  
  
Well he had two options. Still try to sneak in, or go through the front, fighting his way through to the leader. The latter involved fighting for his life, pain, destruction, and possibly dying a horrible death... or worse. The former would most likely involve sneakiness, stealing someone's clothes, and ingenuity.  
  
Ryouga jumped down from his branch and landed in the clearing. He brushed off a few stray leaves from his clothing and strode up to the entrance.  
  
"Hey! Stupid guards! I'm coming in!"   
  
Ingenuity was too damn hard.  
  
He readied himself for an attack. Who knew what these guys were made of? They could be the cannon fodder guys from the bread place, or the creepy Kasumi like freak from a few hours ago. But he was ready for whatever they might throw at him. He didn't care what he had to go through, he would make it. Hibiki's were not taken down so easily. He was ready for anything.  
  
"Sure! Come right in!" One of the guards chimed and stepped to the side. The other winked and did the same. Ryouga blinked.   
  
"Uh? Um... ok." Sure?! Damn these guys! He was all pumped to hit something and they say "sure"?! They were just letting him in? It had to be a trick. But what else could he do?  
  
Ryouga kept his guard up warily as he passed the two guards, expecting an attack, but none came and he passed through the entrance. He paused at the beginning of what appeared to be stone steps that extended into never ending darkness. Torches were mounted into the sides of the cave walls. He suspected the steps went straight down to hell. He had always thought he'd end up there sooner or later, but he had hoped he would take Ranma down with him. Oh well.  
  
He took a deep breath and pushed his nervousness aside and began to descend the steps. Slime coated the edges of some of the stone steps, and cold water dripped down the walls occasionally, making it impossible to grab them if he slipped. It felt like an eternity before he reached the bottom.   
  
But he did finally, and found something he wasn't expecting.  
  
It was a damn nightclub.  
  
The interior of the cave and been lined with trendy dining tables. Light fixtures were carved into nooks and crannies, smoking tendrils of gray snakes that slithered upward until vanishing somewhere in the unseen ceiling. A stage to his far right held a band playing a haunting melody. Blue lights were fixed over the stage accenting the leading singer's curves. A bar sat next to the far wall, with customers crowded around it.  
  
"Welcome!"  
  
Ryouga spun around too see a man dressed in traditional Japanese cloths... traditional WOMAN'S clothes; lipstick, fancy hair pins, the whole works. Great, another one of those girly men. Oh well, the more girly men there were, the more the woman would want the manly men like him... right?  
  
The girly man walked up to him, his red kimono swished as he walked in a decidedly womanly sort of way. His hands were clasped in front of him as he approached. Still on guard, Ryouga turned to face him, shifting his stance slightly.  
  
"We have been expecting you. If you would please come this way Mr. Hibiki." The girly man made a smooth motion with his right hand, indicating for Ryouga to follow him. He then smiled in a way that made Ryouga's skin crawl and headed off to his right.  
  
So the guy wanted Ryouga to follow him? Follow a cross dressing guy into some unknown dark room... yes that was every heterosexual man's dream. But what else could he do? Ryouga gritted his teeth and followed.  
  
They passed through a widening array of corridors and rooms until he had lost all track of the many turns they had taken. Each room was different than the other, with a sort of gothic cave man feel to them. The place was too large to be just a cannon fodder thug operation, like he had original believed. Even more disturbing, there seemed to be water seeping through some of the cave walls. It was always far away from him, the rooms were big after all, but it was THERE. When water was concerned a cursed springs victim could never be too careful.  
  
The girly man finally stopped in front of a large glass door. "The Master will see you now."  
  
"Master? He a vampire or sumthin?"  
  
The man seemed amused by this and smiled softly. "You look more like a vampire than my employer, sir. Don't be silly. Vampires don't exist, Mr. Hibiki."  
  
Ryouga scowled and then glanced at the door for a few moments. He heard that vampire thing enough in elementary school. "So the Master eh? You work for him or something?"  
  
"I never said he was MY master." The girly man's yellowish eyes brightened for a moment. "I run a Pet Shop, Mr. Hibiki. Come down to my establishment sometime. I might have something for you."  
  
"Ah! Listen mister! I'm not that way! Keep your presents to yourself 'cause I don't want any!"  
  
"I meant a pet, Mr. Hibiki."  
  
"Oh. That's what I meant to. Heh." Ryouga rubbed the back of his neck nervously and tried to get his skin to stop crawling. "No thanks. You probably just sell giant snakes and man eating fish and stuff."  
  
The man seemed incredibly amused by this and giggled. Ryouga winced inwardly.   
  
"How interesting. You intrigue me. Well, I leave you to the master. Farewell Mr. Hibiki." The man bowed slowly and walked away, his kimono making swishing sounds as he disappeared behind a corner.  
  
Ryouga took a deep breath. Ok that was weird. What was with these people? Be evil. Kill things. Fine. But don't go making people feel uncomfortable like that! How rude.  
  
Wait, how did that guy know his name?  
  
Oh well. Might as well go in and kick Master 'what's his name's' ass. Ryouga put a hand on the stained glass door and pushed.   
  
The room smelled like burnt flowers. Wispy black curtains lined the walls covering up the rock. In the center of the stone floor, a large symbol of an eye in a triangle was carved into the rock and then smoothed over. The room was vastly smaller than the cavernous rooms he had seen before, and it only took him a moment to reach the low Japanese table at the center of the room.  
  
A figure languidly looked up from his position, sprawled comfortable on a deep red cushion. Ryouga sized him up carefully. He was in his mid thirties or a bit later. Long dark bangs covered his eyes and his chopped hair was pulled back behind his shoulders. Bits and pieces stuck out every which way, as if he'd given a mentally disturbed five-year old a pair of scissors and told him to have at it. Most noticeable though, was the extensive network of scars crisscrossing his bare chest in... patterns.  
  
"Like it?" The man lifted his head slightly exposing deep gray eyes. "I did it myself."  
  
Ryouga stood, looking at the man warily.  
  
"Oh excuse me! I'm being rude. Please sit down." The scarred man indicted another red cushion at the opposite side of the table. Reluctantly, Ryouga walked over and sat on his knees.  
  
"What do you want." Ryouga glared at the creepy man across the table. Just because he had nothing better to do, didn't mean he wanted to hang around and have tea with a bunch of creepy guys. If he had a reputation, he would be worried about it. This was worst than the time he had accidentally wandered into that gay bar.  
  
The scarred man's split lips shifted into a smile. "Would you like some tea?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Miyako. Bring our guest some tea." The man snapped his fingers. Immediately, a female attendant emerged from behind a black velvet drape, carrying a tray. The attendant set two cups of tea down upon the table and then slowly poured tea into each. Ryouga ignored her and focused on the man across the table.  
  
"Listen Jackass--" Ack. Picking up words from Ukyou, not good. "--what the hell do you want?"  
  
"I was about to ask you the same question. Why is "HE" so interested in you?" The scarred man, Ryouga refused to refer to him as "the master", sipped his tea. "Besides, you did hospitalize a large group of my flunkies. It's always tiresome to replace your cannon fodder guys. Then I had to go all the way down to Tokyo General Hospital and gut each of them myself." The man sighed. "I missed my soap operas."  
  
Ryouga felt his stomach drop out. G-gutted? Did he really do that? He just killed all those people? Just because they failed? It was his fault that all those people died? ...NO! He was NOT going to blame this on himself! It was those guys own damn fault for picking on an old man!  
  
"Kinda makes you responsible eh?"  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"Why do you care? His own grand-daughter doesn't give a damn about him. I don't see why you should." The guy sipped his tea again and wrinkled his nose. "Hmm, I need some cookies to go with this tea."  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
The scarred man winked and went back to nursing his tea. Silence reigned inside the room for what seemed like an eternity.   
  
"Is that all your going to tell me?" Ryouga cracked his knuckles. It was about time he commenced with the ass kicking. He tried to rise and felt a wave of dizziness overcome him.  
  
"I killed the old man."  
  
Ryouga fell back onto the cushions. "You...you..."   
  
"Didn't really kill him and am just messing with your mind." He waved his right hand in the air dismissively. "Yes I know."   
  
Must resist urge to hurl large heavy objects... "Leave the old man alone."  
  
"Oh and why do you care?" The man raised an eyebrow.  
  
"I... I don't."  
  
Ryouga seethed, his desire to know what was going on out-weighing his need to cause bodily harm. He needed to know. He wasn't sure why, but it was important.  
  
"Drink your tea or it's going to get cold. I've never liked cold tea myself."  
  
"It's probably poisoned."  
  
The man laughed. "Silly, we already poisoned you. Why would we do it twice?"  
  
Ryouga's blood froze in his veins and then instantly warmed again. Poisoned? That's all?  
  
The attendant walked out of the room. Wait! It was that girl from before!  
  
"Used a really strong poison too. Hmm, I believe I've stalled long enough." The scarred guy glanced at a clock on the wall. "Let's see, it should start working--"  
  
Feh, a little poison couldn't take down Ryouga Hibiki.  
  
"--rrrright about--  
  
Ryouga awoke with a start.  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen! We've got a special treat for you tonight!"  
  
Ryouga blinked and tried to orient himself. His face hurt and he was covered in dirt and sand. Bright lights were shining in his eyes...  
  
"Two martial artists duel to the death! I hope you placed your bets!"  
  
There were people everywhere... lined up all around him in an arena... they were cheering...  
  
"Souvenirs from the loser's body will be auctioned off after the fight!"  
  
He was on some plateau above ... water? Oh shit..  
  
"Bring out the other contestant!"  
  
Damn his head hurt... Wait... Contestant?  
  
"FIGHT!  
  
Fight?  
  
A guttural roar split the noise of the crowd as a man ripped the metal hinges off a nearby gate and threw them to the ground. Blood trickled down from the man's eyes.  
  
What the? The guy's eyes were completely black! That couldn't be good...  
  
"Where the hell am I now?!"  
  
----  
  
Contact Info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/ 


	11. Chapter 11

*IMPORTANT NOTE* This fanfic happens before Saffron. It roughly starts after the Shi Shi Hodokan arc. Ok?  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma 1/2.  
  
Ranma: When am I coming back?! The show IS called _RANMA_ 1/2.  
  
ashes: I dunno someday.  
  
Ranma: Come on! Bring Ranma back!  
  
ashes:...Quiet you. This is a serious chapter.  
  
Ranma: *cough* bring back Ranma *cough*  
  
-----  
  
Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days  
  
Chapter 11  
  
----  
  
That stupid, perverted, stubborn, lying, pig-boy!  
  
Ukyou slammed down her spatula upon her unsuspecting okonomiyaki victim.  
  
She had thought he was a nice guy and then she finds out... HE SLEEPS IN AKANE'S BED?!  
  
Maybe it was impossible to be a non-pervert in Nerima; the water could be contaminated. It would make a lot of sense... like a pervert virus that attaches itself to the male chromosome.  
  
Ukyou shrugged. What had she been thinking about? ...Oh yeeeeah. Perverted Pig Boy!  
  
She slammed her spatula down again.  
  
Shouldn't he have been too embarrassed to sleep in Akane's bed? He got so nervous and embarrassed around Akane. It didn't make any sense. But yet, he had been around Akane all the time! Even sat in her lap! Was his little piggy brain just too small to get embarrassed?  
  
Speaking of little, P-chan was an awfully little pig. It had to be kind of hard, turning into such a defenseless pathetic animal.  
  
Not that she was feeling sorry for the pig boy, 'cause she wasn't.   
  
She sighed and served out two newly made okonomiyaki to Gosinkugi and that fortune teller girl. They sure had been spending a lot of time together. Ukyou's hair fluttered as a cool breeze blew in from her open door.  
  
It was almost time to close up. It was hard to believe that it had been only last night since she had seen Ryouga. It felt longer than that since her plan got shot all to hell. Talk about getting out of hand...  
  
"Gos, I do not like the drinks sold here. Go out and buy me that orange drink from the machine we passed earlier." The fortune teller girl, Ukyou had no idea what her name was, waved her hand in the air impatiently. Her glum looking companion frowned... more.  
  
"But that was four blocks away and--"  
  
He was silenced by a wave of her hand.  
  
"Go. Now."  
  
"Yes Ma'am!" He jumped and ran out of the restaurant, a tad too quickly than a non-athletic guy like him should have been able to.  
  
The fortune teller girl looked up as she noticed Ukyou staring at her.  
  
"I'm not with him, really."  
  
"Uh, huh."  
  
"He's working at my family's magic shop."  
  
"Surrrrrrre he his, hon."  
  
'What's her name', 'hmmped' and went back to her food. Ukyou suppressed the small smile that was threatening to ruin her brooding mood. She was aggravated and planning on staying that way! How would it look if she just got over it? It would be a crime against womanhood, and many other things like that.  
  
The fortune teller girl looked up again after a few minutes. "Oh. What happened with that Ryouga guy? I heard he was hit by a semi? I thought he was tough enough to shrug one of those off."  
  
Ukyou picked up a rag and wiped the countertop spotless. "Well, he wasn't too messed up after the first one..."  
  
"First one?"  
  
"He tried to get up and got hit by another one..."  
  
"Wow..."  
  
"Then the truck exploded."  
  
The fortune teller's eyes widened. "Uh...okay..." The fortune teller went back to her food. Sometimes it was best not to ask questions in this part of town.  
  
Ukyou shrugged and went back to cleaning.  
  
Ranma hadn't been by for quite awhile. Sure, she had been avoiding him at first but... she missed him. Even if he didn't love her, she missed him. They were still friends... right? What was he doing that he couldn't even come and visit his best friend?  
  
Ukyou paused in horror for several seconds.  
  
Ack! She was getting as perverted as Ryouga! She shook her head violently and tried to get the icky mental images to go away... If only she could use the rag in her hand to wipe out her mind. Stupid perverted pig boy, he had corrupted her too... what was he doing now anyways? What did he have to do in his life if he didn't get lost? Was he by himself somewhere all alone?  
  
Not that she cared or anything.  
  
Why did all the men in her life like Akane more than her? If she started freaking out all the time and hitting Ranch--err Ranma for no reason, cut her hair short, and started sleeping with a pig would they start to like her better? ...well Ryouga sure would... ACK! THAT'S NOT WHAT SHE MEANT! GO AWAY MENTAL IMAGE! GO AWAY!  
  
Ryouga was kinda buff and all...  
  
AAAAAH! SHE _WAS_ TURNING INTO A PERVERT!  
  
"Um, are you all right?" The fortune teller girl stared at the overreacting chef.  
  
"Eh, heh heh. I'm all right." Ukyou laughed apologetically and sat the now two pieces of her dishrag far away from her.  
  
The fortune teller girl looked at the unstable chef for a moment, and decided that today was not a good day to get caught up in one of Ranma's fiancée's emotional overreactions. She didn't want seconds THAT badly.  
  
She looked up as Gosinkugi staggered into the restaurant. He leaned against the door frame, too tired to talk or walk. With the last vestiges of his strength, he waved a can of orange drink in the air before collapsing on the floor.  
  
The fortune teller girl stood up. "Come on Gos! It's time to leave."  
  
"But... drink... brought... did I.." Gos gurgled something as his eyes began to flutter back into his head.  
  
"Oh forget about that." The girl stepped on his back on her way out of the restaurant and looked casually over her shoulder at his limp corpse. "What are you laying down there for? Get up! There's inventory to be done at the shop. The floors need mopping. Hurry up!"   
  
Ukyou looked on in pity as Gos somehow picked his body off the ground and followed his slave master off into the night.   
  
The clock on the wall slowly ticked by in the empty restaurant. Only fifteen more minutes and she could close. Well, technically she could close now, but what kinda shanty Cat Cafe like business would she be running if she closed whenever she felt like it?  
  
Still... the clock seemed to be moving really slow.   
  
The okonomiyaki chef felt the night breeze flutter her hair. Goose bumps ran down her arms making her shiver slightly. Did it get colder all of a sudden?  
  
Ukyou didn't bother to look up from the counter as another customer entered her restaurant. Odd, she thought the two creepy people were her last customers for the day. No rest for the weary, she supposed. Ukyou tried and failed to keep the boredom from her voice.   
  
"Welcome to Ucchans. What would you like today?"  
  
"Either an okonomiyaki or a smile... whichever would be less painful for you to do, Miss. But I have to admit, I'm selfishly hoping for the smile."   
  
Ukyou looked up and blushed, as she noticed a well-dressed older man standing across the counter from her. He wore a dark black business suit in a long leather coat. The gray creeping along his temples, complemented his dark good looks. However, his good-natured smile seemed to wash away any dangerous edge. Strands of his short black hair fell across his eyes. He looked like he was in his late thirties...  
  
Ukyou smiled apologetically, and tried to look more customer friendly. After all, if she going to be stuck working later than she wanted, she might as well be serving a sexy older guy in a suit.  
  
"Oh sorry. I always pride myself on Ucchan's customer service relationship. I'm a little off today. So, what'll it be?"  
  
The man pushed his coat away from himself and sat down. Then he rested his hand on his chin and looked thoughtful. "What a tough question, I've already got my smile after all. How about you surprise me?"  
  
"One 'most expensive item on the menu' coming right up!"  
  
The man looked amused as Ukyou began to make the 'super duper pocket emptying special'. He watched her intently as she expertly mixed the batter and chose the ingredients... the really expensive ingredients. Out of the corner of her eye she studied his face. Something seemed to be off. His smile didn't seem to belong on his face, like he should be scowling instead. Or maybe it was his face itself. It looked vaguely...  
  
She shrugged. Oh well, it wasn't important.  
  
"Why, a beautiful girl like you shouldn't be slaving away at a hot stove." The man idly poked small holes into his napkin.  
  
Ukyou rolled her eyes good naturally. "Flattery won't get you free food Mr."  
  
"I suppose I should have tried something you wouldn't hear everyday eh?" The man winked and continued. "Oh well. I'm looking for someone."  
  
Ukyou finished off another expert made okonomiyaki and handed it to the man on a plate. She shrugged and started to put other non-essential ingredients away. She still kept a few out, just incase he asked for seconds.   
  
"Well a lot of people pass through here. If you give me a description, I might be able to tell you if he or she were here."  
  
The man's smile faded for a moment as he gazed intensely around the room. The air temperature seemed to drop for a half second, giving Ukyou a chill. Suddenly, the man turned back towards her and locked eyes, his smile sliding back into place.   
  
"Oh, that's not necessary. He was here."  
  
Ukyou blinked. "Uh, okay. Do you want me to tell them you were here Mr...?"  
  
"Just Hoshi. It pains me to hear beautiful girls me "Mr.". It reminds me of my age." He reached into his pocket and dropped a wad of bills on the counter top. "That should cover it."  
  
Ukyou's eyebrow's crinkled in confusion. "Okay. Do you want me to tell him you were here?"  
  
"Oh no, don't do that." The man grinned. "Then he won't come back."  
  
A cellular phone ran abruptly cutting off further conversation. The older man reached into his pocket and procured the source of the ringing. He flipped open the phone and after a few seconds of muffled conversation, he stood up.   
  
"Well it seems I have to leave. Goodbye Miss Ukyou." He walked out of the restaurant without another word, leaving Ukyou blinking in confusion.  
  
"Wait! You forgot to eat your food...." Huh? The plate was empty. "What the...how did he..."  
  
Only the wind answered her question.  
  
And then she discovered something.  
  
"WOW! LOOK HOW MUCH MONEY HE LEFT!"  
  
And so, she stopped caring about the mysteriousness. She had MONEY!  
  
----  
  
The stands were filled with screaming spectators...all wanting blood to be spilled. The expansive carved rock walls echoed, making the crowd seem almost like a pack of screaming banshees. Fires burned in regular intervals in niches in the walls, bathing the arena in a soft glow. Each niche was shaped differently, and casted its own odd shadow on the arena. The arena itself was carved into a tall pedestal with a thick layer of earth on the top. Black hooded guards stood at the only outcropping from the platform, guarding the exit. They slumped forward with their hands folded, seemly praying to whatever dark god they held their allegiance too.   
  
Suffice to say, it wasn't a very cheery place.  
  
Ryouga stood quickly and wiped sand and crusted blood from the side of his mouth. He supposed he had hit his head when he passed out. His opponent began circling him on the small plateau and Ryouga fell into synch with him, watching out of the corner of his eye.  
  
His instincts, honed to perfection from constantly being lost, began to take control. Adapt to wherever you are. If something is attacking you, attack it back. Don't bother with the whys or hows, they will only get you killed. Running away was not an option. Do anything you have to do to win. Too hell with what's honorable.  
  
Honor... He mentally laughed. He never seemed able to follow the bushido code very well...  
  
Ryouga chanced a glance over the edge of the plateau. Midnight water churned dozens of feet below him, running into the far recesses of ...somewhere. If he would happen to slip, his normal body could handle the fall. He was more or less healed from his previous injuries... but he wasn't sure if his little piggy body would take the brunt of the fall or not... maybe if he landed just right...  
  
"AND DON'T FORGET FOLKS! THE WATER YOU SEE OVER THERE IS FILLED WITH MAN-EATING BARACUDA!"  
  
Well to hell with that idea.  
  
A few spectators shouted at the announcer to shut the hell up.  
  
Ryouga smirked, despite himself. As he circled, he allowed a bit of the dark part of his psyche out, the one that reveled in fighting. He was going to need it. It was dangerous to let that savage part of his mind gain control...  
  
He shrugged mentally. Who was he kidding? He was always like that.  
  
The blank eyed man pulled a ball connected to a long iron chain from behind him. He then began to twirl the large bowling ball like object above his head. Ryouga supposed he should say something noble right now... there really wasn't any reason to pound the guy's face into a bloody pulp, despite how much fun it would be.  
  
But Ryouga hadn't had a really good fight in quite awhile.  
  
"Um... listen... bowling ball guy... there's really no reason to fight. Let's--" Ryouga jumped forward and punched the man in the face, sending his body sliding to the edge of the arena.  
  
Thankfully, the man's body stopped before careening over the edge. Committing murder wasn't on Ryouga's to-do list that night.  
  
Maiming, yes. Killing, no.   
  
The Lost Boy cracked his knuckles as the crowd booed and hissed. A few irate onlookers threw objects toward the arena, which bounced off an invisible barrier and fell harmlessly to stand's floor.  
  
Ryouga's eyebrow twitched. That was too easy. He glanced around for the exit. He was wasting time. Feh, what a weakling...  
  
A roar reverberated over the sound of the crowd. Ryouga jumped at the last second as the ball splintered the ground.  
  
"You idiot!" Ryouga dodged the weapon again. "You wanna destroy the platform and kill us both?!"  
  
The weapon missed his head by centimeters as the man laughed.  
  
Well... Ryouga supposed it was possible he did.   
  
He had to focus on the fight, but something in the back of his mind was distracting him. He had seen this before... the situation was so familiar...  
  
Suddenly a vision of suffocating pillows and a guy in a red bandanna filled his mind. That guy from that show he'd watched at Ukyou's house had done this before!  
  
So he stopped and simply caught the ball of the weapon--and immediately regretted it.  
  
"Gaaaaaaaaaaah!" Ryouga pulled back his bloody hands. Several puncture wounds seeped with blood. His opponent pulled back his now spiked weapon, grinning sadistically.  
  
Ryouga jumped back to gain room...  
  
The black eyed man wasted no time and began a barrage of attacks before Ryouga could do something about his hands. Blood dripped down his fingers and mixed with the dirt at his feet. He made the mistake of trying to wipe the sweat from his eyes with his hands...blood smeared his vision.  
  
He felt the weapon connect to his head. The force of the blow pushed him backwards, but did nothing to crack his thick skull. Ryouga rolled with the blow and used his momentum to knock his opponent off his feet. He easily jumped back while his opponent was dazed.  
  
Ryouga pulled a few bandannas from his forehead and wrapped them around his hands tightly. He gathered a very small bit of chi in his hands to charge the bandannas with the same technique he used to make them super sharp...if he didn't overdue it, he could use them to protect his hands...  
  
"EAAhhhhhhhh!" With a battle cry Ryouga launched himself at his opponent, putting all his strength into his leap. He ducked under the weapon and launched punch after punch to the man's ribs, feeling cracking sounds as his fists connected repeatedly.  
  
The man collapsed, holding his sides.  
  
Ryouga stepped back and wiped the blood from his face with his forearms.  
  
His opponent writhed on the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Suddenly he began to laugh, a hollow mirthless sound muffled by gurgles of blood. His laughter grew louder until to Ryouga's shock, he slowly began to stand up. Bones snapped loudly as he struggled to his feet.  
  
He shouldn't have been able to get up from that! Ryouga clenched his fists. Didn't he feel pain?  
  
A cold lump of ice settled in the pit of his stomach.   
  
How can you defeat an opponent who won't stay down?  
  
'...yOu kILl hiM...' a small voice whispered in the back of Ryouga's mind. He shook his head violently. There had to be another way. Ranma never killed him...  
  
Huh...Ranma hadn't...  
  
The blank-eyed man's laughs continued and began to be accented by a soft dark purplish aura. The air around the rink began to swirl and tinge purple as well, until a dim purple ring swirled around the arena.  
  
Ryouga launched himself at the man again...  
  
Out of nowhere, He felt the wind knocked out of him as an invisible hand punched him in the gut. The force of the blow sent him skidding to the end of the arena. He clawed at the ground to stop his momentum. His fingernails scraped and split, leaving a bloody ranked trail in his wake. Finally, he stopped at the edge of the ring, with one hand grasping the rough rock corners of the ring.  
  
He grimaced. Everything that touched the purple barrier...burned. He forced himself to drag his body the rest of the way through it. The unseen hand hit him again, but this time he was ready. He braced his feet and stood up. It was only a slight annoyance. Ranma had hit him harder!  
  
The slight annoyance created a few black and blue liaisons on his chest.  
  
"Is that all you've got?!" He grinned maliciously. "I know cross-dressing transsexuals who can hit harder than that!"  
  
The invisible force attempted to push him back again, but he stood firm. Slowly he put one foot in front of the other, advancing on his opponent.  
  
"Ack!" Ryouga jumped in the nick of time, as the ground where he had been standing crumpled. Holes began appearing in the arena. The sound of earth and rock falling dozens of feet below him echoed in the cavern.   
  
The purple aura still swirled around the arena. Ryouga grimaced as he realized what the man's plan had been... How was he supposed to know the purple thing was shaking the earth loose? Damn it! Why couldn't he notice these things before hand?!  
  
The man laughed some more.  
  
"Would you shut the hell up?!"  
  
The wind tried to push him off his small island of solid ground.  
  
"Shit..." Ryouga glanced at a sizably larger island a few feet away from him. It was a long leap, but he could make it easily. But if he tried to jump that stupid wind technique would knock him off...  
  
The wind merged with the purple until Ryouga was encased in a dark tornado. The wind tunnel screamed as if human, making his ears pop from the intensity. Flung up dirt burned his eyes... It was like being in the Hiryu Shoten Ha and the aftermath of a Baksai Tenketsu all at once. Harmless clumps of dirt and rock became flying shrapnel, pounding his skin.  
  
He gripped the ground tightly as he felt the dirt slide away inch by inch. He wasn't going to be taken down like this! More dirt inched away. How could he hold on if there was nothing to hold on to?! The wind roared in his ears, blocking all other sounds out.  
  
Desperately, he tried to think of something... ANYTHING... The Shi Shi Hodokan! ...No, he'd relax too much and fall off the cliff... God damn it! Why couldn't he think of techniques on the fly like Ranma?!  
  
"DAMN YOU RANMA!" He wasn't going to die and leave Ranma without anyone to torment him! No one would be there to make sure he took care of Akane! And what about Ukyou?! He broke her heart! He still had to beat him up once for that! And Mousse! He was pretty sure he had to beat up Mousse once too! And... and his parents would probably be sad if he died too!  
  
There was no way in hell he was going to die here!  
  
Inspiration! He needed to think of something!   
  
Ryouga glanced at the ground... blood was everywhere. Was it his or the other guy's? He wasn't sure... Did it really matter?  
  
He glanced down at his right hand. Blood... His hand was covered in blood. His red right hand... huh. Wasn't there something in his vision about that? Oh well...  
  
Blood... Blood... everywhere. Red... it was a neat color really, blood. He'd heard blood called someone's "life" essence before... just like chi. He had plenty of blood and not enough ki... how ironic. Maybe they were the same thing? Chi and Blood... would that work?  
  
With his anger still burning, he put his hand into a pool of blood in the dirt... He spread out his chi, sliding it through the blood... His whole body became warm. His soft blue aura flooded with crimson. It was intoxicating. It was endless desire and death and life and everything in between... He...  
  
HE HAD POWER.  
  
He stood up easily. He smiled with almost childlike glee... Red slinked down his fingers, his muscled arms... There was no concentration needed... No emotions to maintain... It gave emotions TO him. Effortless.  
  
He liked that.  
  
The swirling crimson mass formed together into the vague the shape of a dragon. It hugged his body and tinted his vision red like a bloody dragon... Bloody dragon... HIS bloody dragon.  
  
A small part of the back of his mind told him that something was wrong, but the larger part told it to shut the hell up. THIS WAS FUN.   
  
Ryouga casually looked up as a large rock came toward him. Huh... Yes, that man was still there. He should do something about that.  
  
He flicked his wrist toward his opponent. "Go."  
  
Ryouga laughed manically as the dragon flew from his grasp, a small part still clinging to his body. It racked against the walls, splintering solid metal and rock. Parts of the rink it touched became dust.  
  
The purple wind went to meet it, but the dragon ripped through it as if it was nothing.  
  
Ryouga jumped over to get closer.  
  
The bloody dragon tore through the remaining purple, like a predator devouring its prey.  
  
It reached the man finally, cutting flesh. The man stumbled off the edge, but grabbed onto the ledge at the last second. The dragon swirled angrily around him, his hands began to slip... Time seemed to stand still.  
  
Ryouga laughed. That bastard. He never should have messed with him. He would destroy anything in his way. Emotions didn't matter. Akane, Ranma, Ukyou... they didn't matter. Wait... would Akane want him to kill people? Would Ukyou want him to do this? What? ...something was wrong. STOP! He... didn't want to kill anyone!  
  
He wasn't going to be a murderer!   
  
Ryouga reached out and caught his opponent's wrist at the last second. He dug his heels in as they began to slide into the ground, and began to easily lift him up...  
  
His opponent stabbed him in the arm.  
  
"Daaaaamn iiiiit." Ryouga gritted his teeth. He pulled him up more.  
  
The man braced himself against the side of the cliff, holding himself back.  
  
"What the hell are you doing?" Ryouga pulled harder, inching the man back up. "Ryouga Hibiki's not a murderer!"  
  
The man's eyes widened. "You're Ayako's son?" He grinned. "Figures."  
  
And then he pushed Ryouga backwards and let go...  
  
----  
  
Contact Info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/  
  
aol im: ashes chan 


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma 1/2--  
  
Badly disguised Girl Ranma: Yeah! Ranma! The star of the show! Everybody knows you don't own him! 'Cause like, ya never use him in your stories! Ranma's sooo cool! He's so manly!  
  
ashes: ...I've gone insane.  
  
Girl Ranma: I'm from the National Fangirl Association! All the fangirls want to see Ranma instead of Pork Boy! Tee hee. Ranma! Ranma! Go Ranma! Tee hee.  
  
ashes:...  
  
Contact Info:  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
----  
  
Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days  
  
Chapter 12  
  
----  
  
The roar of the crowd deafened his ears. Their cries for bloodshed and death seemed only echoes in the distance as Ryouga looked down at the blood on his hands. He could still feel his chi radiating... Crimson had taken over completely, suffocating his entire previous blue-green aura. His vision tinted also, shading everything in a red haze. The skin on the crowds' faces seemed to melt away, leaving ghastly screaming skeletons.  
  
Ryouga was sure of only one thing that he knew deep within his heart to be the utter truth.  
  
He was in some deep shit.  
  
That man had just... let go. It wasn't his fault right? He didn't kill him? But... maybe he had accidentally pushed and wasn't aware he had done it? No! He had let go! Right? Ryouga wasn't sure... But it was a duel! Things like that happen in a duel! But why would someone kill themselves in a duel?  
  
A low rumbling shook the small piece of ground Ryouga stood on. Four metal panels slowly began to come together from different sides of the cavern, forming a metal floor above the wreckage of the rink. Ryouga hopped up as the last edges connected where he was standing.  
  
The roar of the crowd faded until all was silence.  
  
The torches embedded within the rock walls began to systematically snuff out like small stars fading out of existence. Soon they were all extinguished, except for one above Ryouga's head leaving him in a small circle of light.   
  
"I knew you'd win."  
  
Ryouga turned abruptly and came face to face with the man known as 'The Master'. The man's split lips turned upward in a faint smirk. Jagged scars crisscrossed his bare chest.  
  
While pushing his tired muscles into a fighting stance, Ryouga glared at The Master. He tried to stand evenly, refusing to show weakness. The red aura wrapped around his body died down slightly.  
  
"You son of a--"  
  
The Master stopped a few feet in front of him. "Temper Temper..." He waved his finger back and forth like the hands of a clock. "That was quite an interesting fight. I'm surprised Gai showed so well. It's amazing how willing to fight a man can be when he's pumped full of drugs. Seems he got a little lucid at the end though... pity."  
  
The master's smirk widened into a grin. "Quite impressive."  
  
"Go to hell." What the hell was he "the master" of anyways?  
  
"Getting cheeky eh?" The Master's grin turned maniacal. "Just because you beat that weakling, doesn't mean you have a chance with me." He tapped his index finger to his temple absently. "I might let you live if you apologize and do what I say."  
  
Silence stretched across the expanse of darkness as Ryouga struggled with himself. What was that master guy rambling on about? Damn it, when was the last time he had eaten anything? What the hell was he doing here? He wasn't some kind of vigilante. He didn't help people. He didn't even LIKE people! His muscles ached, black and blue liaisons covered his chest, his hands burned from the repeated puncture wounds, and hunger was starting to roar its way through his senses.   
  
To hell with this!  
  
"Move_out_of_my_way." The red aura slithered up his legs like a serpent.  
  
"Oh?" The Master laughed. "Do you think that I will just--"  
  
"Yeah." Ryouga had the slight impression it wasn't his own voice speaking. "You will."  
  
His bloody dragon burst forth, and bitch slapped The Master down. It wrapped around his throat and slammed him into the side of the rock wall. Ryouga felt a maniacal laugh bubble up into his throat as he slammed the master against the wall again... and again... and again... and again...  
  
"BWHAHAHAHAHA!" His dragon picked up the master's bloodied body and flew him to the other side of the wall... Slamming him against it... again... and again... and again...  
  
Finally, he dropped the mangled man. He noted distantly that he was still breathing... even with all those little bones poking out. How very annoying. The crimson dragon wrapped itself around him completely. The world seemed to fade away as he stepped toward the man who was in his way... It was time to end it.  
  
Crimson aura flickered, reaching outward...  
  
Ryouga smiled softly and stepped back into a puddle and--...puddle?  
  
NOOOOOOOOOOO!  
  
A small, terrified black pig trotted off into the darkness as fast as his little hooves could carry him.  
  
The Master paused and gaped at the empty pile of clothing. That was... different. He stared into the inky darkness looking for an angry naked glowing man. Faintly, he thought he heard a small clicking noise, but it was gone before he could be sure.  
  
Two large blood spots stained the walls; fluid trickled down the side...  
  
The Master fell back to the ground with a thud and passed out.  
  
----  
  
Ryouga's heart beat loudly within his small chest. Why did his curse always happen at the most inappropriate times?! He had been acting really cool and intimidating!  
  
His little piggy snout twitched... On the other hand, something had felt... wrong. And the homicidal urges had been a little stronger than they usually were. He gave the pig equivalent of a shrug. Oh well.  
  
Distant footsteps approached from the distance. Someone was coming... He quickly hunched down into a niche in the wall as a robed man chatting into a cell phone came into view.   
  
The black robed man stopped inches from Ryouga's hiding spot.  
  
"A naked glowing man sir?" The man scratched the top of his hood and winced. "Are you ok sir? Your voice sounds slurred..." He pulled the phone away his ear. "I'm sorry! Y-yes sir! I'm on it!"  
  
The man rushed off in a whoosh of robes, taking a left at a side tunnel and fading into the darkness... Ryouga squeezed out of the niche in the wall. What to do now?  
  
He glanced right. A dark tunnel.  
  
He glanced left. A dark tunnel.  
  
He glanced behind him. A dark tunnel.  
  
And in front of him... a dark tunnel.  
  
So much for a sense of direction.  
  
Well, when one was backed into a corner with no way out, it was time to trust your instincts! After all, he thought, wasn't he psychic now? Maybe he could try to sense the way out? And hell, why he was at it, he should try to sense some lottery tickets too!   
  
He scrunched up his eyes and tried to calm himself. He tapped into the feeling of when he used the Baksai Tenketsu... everything was connected. A calm blanket filled his being. What was that feeling when he had his visions? Like his mind was being pulled by sharp fingernails, but also, as if there was someone whispering to him. He caught something at the edge of his senses. He felt... he felt--  
  
Hungry?  
  
AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHH!  
  
Ryouga kicked the rock wall with a front hoove angrily and just chose the right passage. His adrenalin rush was now running down and every ache and pain he'd suffered was coming back with a vengeance. If it wasn't the way out, at least maybe it would be a room with soft velvety cushions...  
  
He flattened his ears. Who was he kidding? His injuries were starting to affect his mind...  
  
After a few minutes of trudging in the darkness, light flickered in the distance... He turned the corner and flattened his small body against the wall. Eventually, he came to a large wooden door. Slowly, he peeked into a crack in the door. His ears went up in surprise as he saw--  
  
A room with velvety cushions.  
  
Well whatta ya know.  
  
He inched his way into the room cautiously. It seemed deserted.   
  
There were girly things strung about, like makeup, perfume, dresses, and... Ryouga averted his eyes from the lacy bras that hung from a vanity mirror. It looked like a woman lived here. There were several couches and chairs. The floor was hardwood. It was like an entire house underground. Everything was coated in the color of red, from the curtains (why curtains if there were no windows?), a king sized bed, and a lip-shaped couch. It looked like a love hotel.  
  
Ryouga felt a tickle in his nose. No! He did not just think that! Go away thought!   
  
He shook his head and wandered around the large room a bit. There was a passageway further out that led away from the house area. He started towards it.  
  
"Ah, I'm tired." A girl's voice sighed.  
  
Ack! Ryouga panicked and dashed toward a nearby sofa. He slipped on a rug on his way there, and bumped into a low table. An ashtray tipped off the table from the table and landed with a small clank. He slipped underneath the couch just as the girl entered the room.  
  
"Whose there?"  
  
Seconds passed as Ryouga crouched underneath the sofa, covered in dust bunnies.   
  
The floor creaked. A pair of feet appeared in front of the sofa. The feet crinkled back and forth in impatience.   
  
Ryouga held his breathe. Little clouds of dust danced their happy little dance around his snout. He watched a particularly large dust bunny with trepidation as it flew inches from his nose. Ryouga rolled his eyes. He could see what was coming next...  
  
"Achoo!"  
  
The skirt of the couch was lifted up and the face of a young girl appeared. "What a cute little piggy!"   
  
The young girl, couldn't have been more than sixteen, picked him up. Her obviously dyed blond hair fell across her shoulders in straight tendrils. Her skin was tanned from numerous (and expensive) trips to the tanning bed. Her clothes were... revealing to say the least. Ryouga's ears perked up. She was the girl he had saved in the alley!  
  
"Bwee!" Bwee? His snout twitched. Oh yeah, the pig thing. Can't talk. Forgot.  
  
"You're covered in blood and dirt!"   
  
Ryouga braced himself, waiting for her to drop him like a sack of rice.   
  
The girl paused. "Aww, that's so cute!"  
  
Cute? Ugh, it's more of the backwards Kasumi clan. He was getting really annoyed with them. He'd be so happy when he got back to people who thought bleeding to death was bad.  
  
"Cutest little piggy in the whole world!"   
  
Yep, Ryouga thought glumly. All the chicks dig the cute little piggy...  
  
She carried him over to her vanity mirror and sat on the bench. Ryouga glanced at the oversized (to his piggy senses) makeup lying on the table. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he saw the cup of hot tea, sitting right beside him. Emphasis on HOT.  
  
Hmm tea, make human.  
  
Be naked man near girl.  
  
Yet... tea make human.  
  
Decisions, decisions.  
  
"Did you escape one of the sacrifices?" The girl picked up a curling iron from the table, and wrapped a strand of hair.  
  
Ryouga began to shake his head, then stopped abruptly and tried to put on one of his 'look at me I'm just a stupid pig who is in no way really a human with a curse' faces.  
  
"Oink... oink." There, those were nice normal pig sounds.  
  
"Look, no more roots, eh piggy?" She flipped back a small section of her blonde hair. "I have to look good for my master." She gazed up to the ceiling absently. "Or is it THE Master? Oh well." She shrugged.  
  
Ryouga was suddenly on the alert. He might get some information from this girl if he stayed there for a few minutes. As long as she didn't find out he beat the hell out of her "master". But he was just a small pig, how could he do something horrible like that?  
  
Smirking inwardly, Ryouga put on his look that said 'witness how cute I am spill and your life's secrets to the cute little piggy!' He made his eyes large and glassy. 'The little piggy would never tell anyone! Yesirrreee!'  
  
"I have to look nice for The Master. He's taking me out to dinner tonight after the fight."  
  
Ryouga's eye twitched. Nooooo he's not. Unless it was the hospital. Someone PROBABLY found him... heh heh.  
  
He knew he was supposed to feel bad about almost killing the guy, but he couldn't work himself up to feel any emotion other than supreme satisfaction.  
  
"The master saved me ya know." She twisted a tube of lipstick and colored her lips a deep red. "He took me from the streets. Made me sophisticated." She spit on her finger, touched another curling iron and then wiped her finger on her skirt.  
  
Rrrrrright. So she was "more expensive" now... Ryouga snorted.  
  
"Isn't this place great? I can't believe it's underground." She held both curling irons in one hand, then applied mascara with the other. "The organization can do almost anything." She stopped for a moment her eyes becoming unfocused.   
  
Ryouga titled his head. What was her problem now? He nudged her with his snout.  
  
She snapped out of it and looked back down. "No... they can do anything."  
  
"Bwee?"  
  
She let the last two pieces of curled hair fall down to her shoulders. "That traitor Gai found that out... They even found that guy with the bandanna. Who knows why the higher ups wanted us to bother him... I wonder what they want with him?"  
  
Higher ups? That did not sound good. Why would anyone want him for? The organization or Yakusa, or whoever the hell they were, couldn't be that mad about a few beat up flunkies could they?  
  
The girl flipped her hair off her shoulders. "Oh well, the bastard's as good as dead anyways."  
  
"BWEE!"   
  
The girl paused and laughed absently to herself.  
  
"Look at me." She glanced at him out of the corner of heavily colored lids. "I'm talking about my life to a little pig."  
  
"Bwee." Ryouga shrugged. Why girls felt the need to tell their life stories to small black pigs was anybody's guess.  
  
"So, I guess I should give you back to the people trying to sacrifice you."  
  
"Bweeeeeee!" He jumped away from her hand... Tipping over the tea with his hind leg in the process.  
  
"Aaaaah!"  
  
"EEEEEEEEEEEP!" the girl screamed and jumped back from the table. Ryouga, now in human form, ran over to the curtains and ripped a big chunk off, wrapping the fabric around his waist.  
  
"STAY BACK!" The girl grabbed a letter opener from a table and held it front of her in panic. "If you touch me the master will kill you!"  
  
Ryouga attempted to make the fabric cover... everything. "L-Listen lady!" Ack! Fabric slipping... "I'm just trying to get out of here!"  
  
"Right. Wandering around naked in a girl's bedroom and your just "lost"! If you're trying to use me to get revenge against my master, to hell with you!" She pointed the letter opening to her own throat.  
  
"I'll kill myself before you have the chance!"  
  
"Stop that! What's with your family and trying to kill themselves?!"  
  
The girl's grip on the letter opening loosened and she looked up. "What?"  
  
"WHY DOES YOUR STUPID FAMILY KEEP BOTHERING ME?!" Ryouga held his head in his hands and yanked at his hair. Which was a big mistake 'cause nothing was holding up his fabric then. He grabbed it before it fell down completely. "First you in that damn ally, then your grandfather trying to kill himself. Then I got dragged into a death match... What's your problem?!"   
  
Silence fell upon the two. The girl still had the letter opening pointing to her throat, hard enough to make the skin indent, but not draw blood.  
  
A drop of tea ran down Ryouga's face. He wearily wiped it away. "Don't you care about your grandfather at all?"  
  
"Who are you to judge me?" the girl said between clenched teeth. She finally dropped the letter opener. The thin piece of metal clunked to the floor. "The master loves me. That's all I need. He gives me whatever I want."  
  
"What about your grandfather?"  
  
The tanned girl snorted. "People die. The bastard's mind is rotted anyways. He doesn't even remember who I am."  
  
"But..."  
  
"Heh, are you trying to be a hero?" The girl stared Ryouga in the eye. "There's one thing I know about heroes... heroes die. I don't want to die."  
  
Ryouga glared back, loosing his temper slightly. "I'm not a hero! I was just trying to... trying to..." He didn't know what he had been trying to do...  
  
"Trying to what? "Save" me? You can't save anyone."  
  
"..." That wasn't true. He'd seen Ranma save Akane plenty of times... from the sidelines...  
  
"Pathetic. I should call my master and have him show you how the world really works." She turned around unexpectedly. "But that would ruin my night... Just leave. There's an exit over to the right." She paused, as if making a decision. "I never saw you."  
  
"Heh. Fine lady." He turned to leave. "Have a nice life being a psycho's plaything. Oh, and sorry your plans are already ruined. You might want to check up on your "master". But hey, don't worry. The hospital food isn't that bad." Ryouga smirked while walking away, head held high (very tight grip on the curtain) and walked out...  
  
His body immediately slumped as he turned the corner. He wasn't sure which leg he wanted to limp on more, so he alternated between the two. He dragged himself painfully through the exit, landing in a pile of mud, though not wet enough to start his change...  
  
He fell forward on his knees.  
  
Above, the skies twinkled, it was nearly midnight from the position of the moon... Ryouga took a moment to flip the stars off. If there were someone, or someone's up there, he hoped they were pissed. Trees shouldered in upon him on all sides... wherever he was it was remote. Still, he felt he could still find his bag.  
  
Now that had been an interesting experience hadn't it? He had killed someone... or had he? Or maybe two people? He wasn't sure, his head hurt... His hands could barely hold up the fabric. He might actually need stitches...  
  
Ryouga wiped stray moisture from his eyes with the back of his muddy hand. He froze.  
  
His hand...  
  
He turned his hand over... it was glowing red again instead of his usual depressed blue-green. Focusing, he tried to dampen his chi. The red became brighter, as if pissed that someone was trying to stifle it...  
  
"Damn it hand! Stop it! We're done fighting now!"  
  
Scarily enough, it did.  
  
That stupid girl and her family... to hell with them.  
  
And that man... Gai was his name? Heh, that girl had said had been a traitor? He might not have been a bad guy after all... and now he was dead. He couldn't even have a funeral...  
  
"DAMN IT!" Ryouga punched the ground. Why couldn't he have saved him?! Maybe the world really didn't work that way... Maybe he couldn't save anyone.  
  
He laughed bitterly. He couldn't even save himself.  
  
Why did the damn man have to let go?! He didn't have to! They could have taken the bad guys together! And now he was dead... dead... he hated that word. Why was everyone so suicidal?!  
  
Sure, life sucked! But if you're dead, you can't get revenge! Why couldn't they see that?  
  
It had been a really sucky day. Or was it days? He had no idea.  
  
He dropped his hand to the ground. Man his life sucked. As soon as he thought it couldn't get worse, there was a new level to the suckyness. He growled. He should get a sign: "Ryouga Hibiki. The universe's bitch".  
  
His mind was overloading with all the weird new information. He missed the days when all he had to think about was just trying to find Ranma and kill him. It was easier when he just wandered around lost. Akane, Ranma, Ukyou... it all seemed so distant. Man, he missed those simple lost days.  
  
Heh, and then that comment about his mom... He didn't remember her ever being a professional fighter in the illegal circuit... but Hibiki was a fairly average name, the guy could be mistaken. Couldn't he? It'd be different if he'd said something about his dad's wife, but he'd said THAT mom....  
  
There was only one thing left to do.  
  
It was time... to go home.   
  
---  
  
Contact Info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
aim: ashes chan  
  
I suck. I took a long time again. I'm so sorry. I tried to write it quicker this time, but to no avail.  
  
Next chapter: Ryouga goes back to his house... well one of them anyways. We get to see the elusive Hibiki basement, hopefully a question or two will be answered, and some other stuff happens.  
  
Ranma: Is Ranma in it?  
  
Ashes: No, hahaha. ^_^  
  
Ranma:.... 


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma. I just like to steal the story and butcher it sometimes.  
  
Contact Info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/  
  
----  
  
Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days:  
  
Chapter 13  
  
---  
  
The hospital was dark.  
  
The master didn't mind. He was used to dark, dreary places. What he really couldn't stand was the incessant beeping monitor beside him. He knew his heart was beating, he didn't need to be reminded of the fact over and over. His multiple broken bones and contusions were reminder enough that he was alive.   
  
Clouds drifted by the waning moon, cutting off the small amount of light it could have given. The master glanced over at his bedside clock. It was nearly midnight and he still couldn't fall asleep.  
  
As soon as he was well enough, he was going to hunt down that bandanna kid and rip his entrails out. That pretentious bastard was going to pay for humiliating him. And those looks his woman had given him! How DARE she look down upon him! That bitch would pay too!  
  
The Master was so involved in his musings, that he didn't notice the door to his room creak open or see the dark figure in a long black jacket step through. The figure puffed on a cigarette, waiting for the broken master to notice him.  
  
The Master looked up after several minutes, jolting suddenly and yanking the IV out of his arm.  
  
"S-sir! What are you--" He cut off as he noticed the glint of metal sliding out of the figure's coat.  
  
"Wait! I-I can make it up to you! Please!" The master yanked out his IV, and sat up. "Please don't... please--"  
  
His pleas were cut off as his head was severed from his shoulders, rolling uselessly to the floor. The mouth moved for several more seconds...  
  
Warm blood flowed out of the severed corpse like a fountain.  
  
With one fluid motion, the figure poured liquid onto the bed from a small container. He then flicked his cigarette onto the bed. Flames quickly began to engulf the room.  
  
"Heh. Cannon Fodder." He smirked as he lit up another cigarette and walked away at a slow leisurely pace.  
  
And the monitor? Well... it stopped beeping.   
  
----  
  
Ryouga woke up with a gasp.  
  
What the hell was that? Man, he felt sick. The master, and... his head getting cut off and all the blood... Was it a vision? A nightmare? Premonition?   
  
One thing was for sure, that was the last time he allowed himself to fall asleep in the bathtub.  
  
The bath water wasn't cold yet. He hadn't been asleep for long. The figure's face had been shrouded in shadows. Had it really happened? It had felt so real... He had felt the fire, smelled the blood. Of course, that could be because he'd spent a half an hour scrubbing blood off of himself...  
  
He supposed there was nothing he could do about it either way. Also, the master had been an evil bastard, he shouldn't give a damn if he was dead.  
  
Heh, yeah. Only fools have pity for their enemies...  
  
Not feeling like getting up, he pushed the hot water knob with his foot, letting the warm water heat up the tub again. No one was ever around to actually use the hot water, so he could use all he wanted. When the water finally felt hot, he turned the knob off again with his wet foot.  
  
He winced and slid down further into the warm water, letting it relax his tired muscles and wash over his naked body. He rubbed his shoulder muscles, careful not to jar the stitches in his palms. Giving himself stitches had been a rather... unpleasant experience. He knew he should have gone to a doctor, but he didn't want to go back to a hospital for as long as he lived.  
  
Ryouga grumbled and tried to force himself to relax and failed miserably.  
  
It had been rather easy to get to his house. He had never realized how... close it was to Nerima. There were no jungles, deserts, or secret military installations anywhere in between the two!  
  
Of course, there had been that evil cult that tried to kill him, but compared to what he had previously thought, the route was a walk through the cherry blossoms.   
  
He was the only one in the house currently. Usually the housekeeper was there, but even she had stepped out for a few hours. She was paid to live in the house and clean it so when a wayward Hibiki member actually made it home, they wouldn't have to wade through buckets of unopened mail, among other things. Ryouga had no idea how old the lady was, but he knew she was REALLY old. When he was younger he often wondered if she was the first woman EVER.  
  
Ryouga had never been very fond of her, mainly because of her penchant for never remembering his name, and getting television confused with reality... sometimes both at once.  
  
It was disheartening, but coming home to an empty house wasn't anything unusual for him. He could count on his fingers the number of times he had met someone else in the house other than the housekeeper. When he had been younger, he had run into more extended family members wandering about.  
  
For some reason, once he got older, they all seemed to stop coming...  
  
Ryouga snorted. He had to stop feeling sorry for himself all the time. It never got him anywhere.  
  
He gazed at the ceiling for a long moment, trying to think of nothing. However, his mind refused to corporate, and images of a certain okonomiyaki chef seeped into his consciousness. He was sure he must have the title 'Number One Jackass' in her mind right now.  
  
How could he ever have a girlfriend, or love, or a wife, or anything like that, if he couldn't even keep a girl as a friend?  
  
Ryouga idly counted the floral patterns on the ceiling...  
  
Did Ukyou have any other friends?  
  
He held back a laugh. Of course, she did. A pretty, smart, strong girl like her must have lots of friends. Right? She was loyal too... Well, as long as you didn't go around sleeping in girls beds in the guise of a little pig. Girls tend to get angry when you sneak into their beds... Unless your name is Shampoo and the guy is Ranma...  
  
Shampoo had always seemed a little loose in his opinion.  
  
---  
  
Miles away in the Cat Cafe, Shampoo sneezed as she slammed a large butcher knife into a hunk of pork over... and over... and over...  
  
---  
  
Anyways...   
  
Ukyou was a great person. She wasn't ugly either. Not that she was perfect; nearly everyone in the area had some kind of odd quirk. Slight cross dressing and an obsession with cooking were definitely on the lower end of the scale.  
  
Yeah... Ukyou had other friends. Everyone at Furinkin High couldn't be that stupid. She had tons of friends.  
  
Ryouga sighed and got out of the tub.  
  
"Come on Mr. Jackass, can't stay in here all day..."   
  
--- -  
  
A bright shiny countertop is a must for any business. The fresh lemony scent invigorates the customers and lets them know that cleanliness is top priority. A business woman must always be vigilant in keeping her restaurant in tip top shape.  
  
Ukyou sighed and scrubbed the clean countertop for the seventeenth time.  
  
It was especially important when your job was your whole life.  
  
The restaurant was fairly busy today. The small space was crammed with customers. Business was good. She had spent the day listening to the customer's conversations. Usually they were boring, but sometimes they were like live soap operas.  
  
Currently, a group of high school students were gathered about the countertop. They were talking about who liked who, clothes, and makeup. It was like an alien language to Ukyou. You wore clothes that were decent and fit, and makeup was a waste of money. As for who liked who... there had always been one guy, one goal in her life. Dating and searching seemed very... complicated.  
  
She was fairly sure they all went to Furinken, but she didn't know their names. Glancing through the corner of her eye, she watched as they laughed and giggled. Maybe she should try to talk to them?  
  
No, that was silly. There was nothing she could say to them. Other than not to take little pigs home and sleep with them in their beds...   
  
She blinked and pushed her thoughts aside as a customer walked up. Now was not the time to waste energy on sappy emotions. They never got her anywhere. She turned on her brightest, fake smile.   
  
"Hello! Welcome to Uccha--"  
  
She paused as she recognized her customer.  
  
"Hi... Ranma."   
  
----  
  
Ryouga wasn't sure where to go. He hoped he wouldn't run into the housekeeper. Maybe she didn't work for them anymore? But, it was hard to believe that she wasn't around. Sometimes he thought she had come with the house. It had been two years since he had last seen her. She hadn't been around when Shirokuro had her puppies...  
  
As if on cue, seven full-grown black and white dogs tackled him.  
  
"Ack!" He frantically grabbed the nearby table to catch his balance as a wall of fur and wagging tails enveloped him on all sides. A very bad memory of the time he was mauled by rabid dogs in Osaka flashed before his mind. He desperately grabbed a piece of beef jerky from his backpack and threw it blindly. The jerky did an amazing curve and zipped through three different rooms.  
  
Since food is much more important than love, as most dogs realized, the Shirokuro hoard bounded off toward the jerky.  
  
Ryouga breathed a sign of relief. Someone really needed to give a few of those dogs away.   
  
Sighing, he looked about the room and suddenly realized what table he had been leaning on.  
  
His eyes swept the surface, stopping where a note from his mother lay. He picked it up, smiling sadly, and stared at it for a few minutes. It was a ritual whenever he got home. He knew it was silly, he had read it so many times he knew it by heart. Holding the note like delicate silk, he turned it over in his hands, feeling every crease of the paper.   
  
The sound of a door closing brought him out of his trance. He sat the ten-year-old note back in its place and continued looking around.  
  
Damn it! The turtle lady was here!  
  
He waited for her reach him... and waited.... and waited...  
  
Ryouga decided to just walk over. He figured he might as well get it over with. Every once in awhile, she had something important to pass on to him.  
  
"Hey, Kameko are you here?"  
  
The Hibiki's house keeper lurched slowly forward, stopped, and poked her head out of her large turtleneck sweater. Her ancient wrinkled face split into a grin.  
  
"Master Lupin welcome home!" She cackled.  
  
Ryouga tripped and fell flat on his face.  
  
"My name's not Lupin..." He pulled himself to his feet.  
  
"Oh I'm sorry hee hee, you're so much taller! How's school? Has your teacher Onizuka been keepin ya on your toes?"  
  
"Who?" Ryouga felt a bead of sweat run down his neck. Sometimes it was best just to agree. "School's great. Yep. I love school."  
  
"I've been feeding Doremon for you." She wiggled her cane around.  
  
"It's Shirokuro, and Doremon wasn't a dog..."  
  
"You get a haircut?" She creeped over and began to pick at him.  
  
She couldn't remember his name, yet she noticed his hair... great. "Yeah. Listen Kameko was there any--"  
  
"What happened to your hand boy?" She grabbed his bandaged hand in concern. The white bandaged was dotted in blood.  
  
Ryouga frowned at the blood. He must not have done the stitches properly.  
  
"Um..."   
  
Evil Cult? Fight to the death? Nah, he didn't want to explain that. He frowned... actually, why not?  
  
"I was drugged and forced to fight to the death in an underground arena that is run by crazy cult members."  
  
"Ah that used to happen to your mother all the time."  
  
"Huh?????" No, it was best to ignore that. Crazy Kameko just got lucky that time.  
  
Kameko smirked. "Be a good boy and clean the basement." She wiggled her cane again.   
  
Ryouga blinked. "We have a basement?!"  
  
"Eh? Why wouldn't we?"  
  
"Where?"   
  
Kameko pointed her cane behind Ryouga. He turned around. Behind him was a large wooden door with the words 'BASEMENT' carved into it in large letters.  
  
"Oh." He shifted his pack. "And why do I have to clean it?"  
  
Kameko looked at him like he was the crazy old turtle lady instead. "Because the negative energy from Rosuto-sama's shrine will begin to overflow with negative energy and break the seal. It is very unstable. Enemies lurk on every side..." She glanced from side to side in a 'paranoid crazy old lady way'.  
  
She popped back into her sweater. "And I can't reach the higher shelves."  
  
"Uh huh."  
  
"Weeel I'm gonna go now. Hee hee." Kameko slowwwwwwllllllyyyyy walked away to go water the sidewalk.  
  
Ryouga shrugged as he watched her walk away. Why not? It couldn't hurt to at least take a look down there.  
  
He opened the door and started down the steps.  
  
----  
  
Her plan to avoid them forever had failed.  
  
Ranma shifted from foot to foot, nervous for some reason. Ukyou had no idea why, but really didn't care. Akane stood next to him looking worse for wear. Ukyou pushed down the urge to laugh. What? Did the little princess get kidnapped again? If she were Akane, she'd train harder so that wouldn't happen again. But no, Akane wouldn't even try.  
  
"Ukyou, have you seen P-chan?"  
  
Ukyou let a small laugh sneak out. And here she thought it was about something important.  
  
"You know?" Ranma piped up, "The little porky to go menu on legs?"  
  
Akane punched him in the ribs. "Don't say that!" She sniffled. "He could be really hurt and all alone somewhere..."  
  
Ukyou almost dropped her sauce brush.  
  
"Aw Akane, don't go crying on me."  
  
"I am NOT crying."  
  
"Yes you are. Tomboys can't be crybabies too ya know."  
  
Akane punched him in the ribs again.  
  
"Ow..." Ranma rubbed his side, noticed what he was doing, and then puffed up. "I mean, not ow. That didn't hurt."  
  
Ukyou flipped another okonomiyaki and concentrated on the grill. It was painful to watch their old married couple routine. She wished they'd just leave. "He probably got lost. Don't worry about it."  
  
Akane sighed. "Don't be silly. P-chan's not Ryouga something--"  
  
"OF COURSE'S HE'S NOT!" Ranma paled and began to make wavy hand gestures, bumping into a few customers.  
  
Ukyou looked up.  
  
P-chan eh? A bitter smile flashed across her face. The small bit of mirth faded quickly.  
  
"You know how it is Akane. Little boy pig with hormones wandering around... He must be looking for a girlfriend." Ukyou smirked. "You should have him neutered."  
  
Ranma covered his mouth as a sort of half-scream came out.  
  
"I suppose you could be right." Akane looked thoughtful. "He might stay home more often if we do..."  
  
"No!" Ranma put his hands on Akane's shoulders. "You can't do that to him Akane!"  
  
"I thought you didn't like P-chan?"  
  
"I don't, but no man deserves that!"  
  
"Man?" Ukyou picked up the sauce and spread it across another okonomiyaki. "I thought he was a pig?"  
  
"HE IS! HE IS!"  
  
"Why are you freaking out for?" Akane lightly brushed Ranma's hands off her shoulders. "He's just a little pig."  
  
"YEAH! YEAH! THAT'S RIGHT!"  
  
Ukyou had to duck behind the counter to hide her laughter. Unexpectedly, she began to cry in the middle of laughing. She wiped the tears from her cheeks. Why was she crying and laughing at the same time?   
  
She had to get herself together...  
  
On the other side of the counter, Ranma and Akane argued as they always did. Didn't they love each other now? She had waited weeks for some declaration to come from the two of them that would set all hell loose. But... there was nothing.  
  
What was going on?  
  
"I didn't say I was going to go through with it Ranma, calm down. It's not like I'm going to get YOU fixed."  
  
They act like nothing had happened, what were they afraid of?  
  
"That's not funny, uncute tomboy. If that's what's waiting for him, he's never gonna come back now."  
  
There were idiots. Stupid freakin idiots. And she was more jealous of them than anything she had ever been in her entire life.   
  
"Whatever, pervert! Maybe we should get you fixed too. That'd solve a lot of our problems." She stuck her tongue out at him.  
  
"Yeah but that'd ruin all the fun--errr uh I mean, who are you calling a pervert?!"  
  
They were faking!   
  
Those cowards!  
  
If she had it, she wouldn't be afraid. She wouldn't waste it. Damn... how she wished she could have it. It wasn't fair!   
  
"As if I'd want to look at YOU." Her eyes lingered a little too long before she turned away.  
  
To have someone that would love and die for you... and they waste it on petty arguing?! How dare they waste something like that!!  
  
"UNCUTE!"  
  
"PERVERT!"   
  
Ukyou stood up.  
  
"STOP IT!!!"  
  
Akane, Ranma, and the rest of the restaurant froze in surprise. Ukyou clutched her spatula, tears running down her face.  
  
"DO NOT DESTROY MY RESTAURANT BECAUSE OF ONE OF YOUR LITTLE LOVERS QUARELLS!"  
  
Ranma and Akane could only gape in surprise. The rest of the patrons grabbed their food in hand and left as fast as they could.  
  
"THIS RESTAURANT IS THE ONLY THING I'VE GOT, DAMN IT!" She grasped her spatula handle so hard it bent. "YOU AND YOUR STUPID LOVERS QUARRELS'! I KNOW YOU LOVE EACH OTHER!"   
  
She pounded on the countertop for effect.  
  
"YEAH, I SAW YOU KISSING THE NIGHT RYOUGA GOT HURT! YOU LOVE EACH OTHER! WHY ARE YOU PRETENDING YOU DON'T?!"  
  
She ripped her apron off and stomped toward them. "IS IT COLOGNE AND THAT HUSSY?! WELL YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO FIGHT THEM!"  
  
She stood in front of them, unaware of the tears streaming down her face. "SO WHAT ABOUT YOUR PARENTS?! SAY NO! SOUN AND GENMA ARE WIMPS!"  
  
She shook them both. "YOU'RE BEING COWARDS! STOP_BEING_COWARDS!!!"  
  
Ukyou went silent and hung her head.  
  
Ranma and Akane's brain functions' ceased for a few brief seconds. They opened and closed their mouths, but no sound came out. After several minutes of staring at the walls, the ceiling, and all the pretty dust mites... Akane regained her senses. Ranma's system was still a few checks away from rebooting.  
  
Akane tentatively put a hand on Ukyou's shoulder. "Ukyou are you--"  
  
"YOU'RE GOING ON A DATE!"  
  
Ranma and Akane jumped.  
  
Ranma blinked. "We... we are?"  
  
"RIGHT NOW!"  
  
"Uh..." was the best the two could manage.  
  
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!!!" Ukyou grabbed them both by the shirt collar and shoved them outside.  
  
The two stood outside on the sidewalk, wandering where reality went.  
  
"GO NOW AND HAVE FUN OR I'M KILLING YOU BOTH!!"  
  
Ranma and Akane reluctantly walked off toward a... date? Well... the crazy okonomiyaki chef was quite scary and it was best to do what she said.  
  
The two faded off into the distance.  
  
Ukyou slumped and dragged herself inside, laying her head on the countertop.  
  
"That was fun..." She coughed. "My throat hurts..."  
  
But at least, someone would be happy. Her friend would be happy. Of course, there would be battles to fight... Kodachi was a minor problem... but the Amazon hussy wouldn't go down easily. But, she'd help. They'd be happy. Maybe they'd let her babysit when they had kids?  
  
Ukyou forced her tears to stop. She was tired of moping. She wasn't some weak little girl that would sit around crying over some lost love. She REFUSED to be. It was time to heal. It was time to get over the jackasses.  
  
She wiped her tear streaked face and gazed about her restaurant.   
  
"Oops, I chased all the customers away."  
  
Broken hearts were very bad for business...  
  
----  
  
In another part of Japan, in the Hibiki basement...  
  
Ryouga shivered. For some reason, he felt this sudden sense of impending doom.  
  
He shrugged. Oh well. He was quite used to doom.  
  
Each step Ryouga took, enveloped him in a cloud of dust. Cobwebs stretched across the rafters, and disappeared into the depths of the ceiling. The walls were made of old stone, way older than his house actually was. Ryouga sneezed. This place was HUGE.  
  
"How long have we had this?!"  
  
Damn. There was NO WAY he was going to clean this place. How many rooms had he never noticed his house had?  
  
Ryouga sneezed and walked over to a large shelf. He glanced down at the different items. Some were labeled with tags, while others were in pieces, barely distinguishable from each other. Souvenirs from generations of Hibiki wanderers.  
  
He walked over and read a label on a rusted sword lying near the wall. "Tetsusaiga... ow!" Ryouga pulled his hand back and shook it. Damn thing shocked him. Must be static electricity or something...   
  
"Ok gonna leave that alone."  
  
He searched a few more shelves.  
  
"Let's see... Nemicromicon, Ark of the Covenant, Claire Bible, Jewel of Four Souls, Mcgruffin Device, One Piece, The Idiots guide to the Illuminati, big trunk labeled Jimmy Hoffa... I'll never find anything important in all this junk!"  
  
Ryouga sighed after thirty minutes of searching. He was getting no where. Sighing, he walked over to a dusty trunk and sat down. He leaned back against the door...  
  
Now, it's times like this when you're bored, relaxed, and you're mind is blank that you're not really expecting the floor to collapse and cause you to fall twenty feet into an unknown mysterious cavern.  
  
Which is probably why it happened to Ryouga... but he was used to it.  
  
Ryouga fell through several layers of cobwebs until he slammed into hard rock. It didn't feel too great, so he decided to lie on the ground for ten minutes, watching all the pretty dust fly to the ground.  
  
"Gah..." After several minutes, Ryouga decided to be fully conscious again and pushed himself off the hard rock surface. He squinted his eyes against the stinging dust and looked around.  
  
Ryouga blinked.  
  
It was some kind of shrine... Ancient carven images wove themselves about the cavern. Small dust laden statues, some crumbling from age lay in piles. Tapestries stretched across a far wall.  
  
But most unusual of all was the giant statue in the middle of the room. Its' face was set in a permanent scowl. A... very familiar scowl.   
  
"Is that... me?"   
  
-----  
  
Please send C&C. I've been working on this story for nearly 4 years and I'm starting to get burnt out here...  
  
Contact Info:  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
ashes: Ha ha, you got used for fanservice, Ryouga.   
  
Ryouga: S-shut up!   
  
Ranma: Think about it, tons of people saw you naked!  
  
Ryouga: x_x  
  
ashes: Ah! You killed him!  
  
Next Chapter: Why is Ryouga's face on that statue? Do those numbers mean ANYTHING? Will Ryouga have to take another bath? Will Ashes find her plot in time? Tune in next time. It should be finished before the sun burns out. 


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma 1/2. If I did, there'd be a hell of a lot less typos in this story.   
  
Contact Info:  
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/  
  
9/16/03 - My Goal is to finish this before the end of the month. Here I go...  
  
10/16/03- Goal SO not met.  
  
11/11/03 - I suck and life is meaningless.  
  
12/04/04 - Goal maybe met. Revising...  
  
12/08/04 - Nooo! Need to rewrite half of the chapter! x_x  
  
3/01/04 - Redoing the whole damn fanfic.  
  
3/23/04 - Retooling up to chapter 10 done...  
  
4/13/04 - ROUGH DRAFT DONE!  
  
4/18/04 - Retooling completely done.  
  
4/19/04 – FINALLY DONE! *shakes fist*  
  
----  
  
Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days  
  
Chapter 14  
  
---  
  
Somewhere in the heart of Tokyo, lies Sakura Long-Term Health Facility. The hospital was worn down and long in need of a renovation. The paint and floors were cracking, and the third floor elevator was out of order more often then it worked. Lights in an unused ward were never replaced, and the employee's bathroom sink had never worked as far as anyone knew.  
  
The long name was simply a ruse, to make the building sound more politically correct and hide it's true nature. Everyone who worked there knew what it really was. The neighborhood kids walked a mile detour to school everyday to avoid it. Heck, even a few of its residents knew the harsh truth:  
  
It was an insane asylum.   
  
It was a place where unwanted relatives were dumped when they were no needed. Within the hospital's old walls, entire lives were forgotten, by those inside and out.  
  
Still, most of the under funded staff were generally good people who tried to make the best out of what they had and help their patients. Unfortunately, if you were bad enough off to be in Sakura Long-Term Health Facility to begin with, you were not going to get better. The hospital was the last stop for hopeless cases. The only way to leave was generally through the grave.  
  
There was a stamp for non-death discharges in the discharge nurse's desk. However, as far as she knew, no one had ever used it.  
  
It was a Monday in this not so cheery hospital when Mr. Tanuki started his third month of community service. The man was resigned to his fate, and was rather grateful community service was all he had been sentenced too.   
  
On a fateful night a few months ago, he had drunken one too many beers on the job and had hit some kid with a semi. One minute he was drunkenly singing along to a pop idol song, the next minute the kid was there and he was swerving madly across the road...  
  
He could vividly remember sitting in the police station, wondering if he had become a murderer or not...  
  
Mr. Tanuki shook his head as he walked down the dimly lighted hall. That boy had only been sixteen and he had nearly taken it all away in one moment of stupidity. Damn, when he was sixteen he hadn't experienced _ANYTHING_! No motorcycling till the crack of dawn, no hot women, no booze filled nights (on second thought, maybe he should have stayed away from the booze), no bar fights; no nothing!  
  
Luckily, the kid survived. Mr. Tanuki was shocked when the kid he hadn't even pressed charges. He owed that kid, big time. The least he could do was work a little community service until he could find the kid and repay him somehow.   
  
The job sucked, but he felt he deserved a lot worse, all things considered...  
  
The rounds were the same everyday. Give the patients who could feed themselves their meals, clean the toilets, clean the floors, and it was onto the oh-so-delightful job of cleaning the bed pans.  
  
Mr. Tanuki grimaced. Yes, that had to be the MOST fun part of the day. The middle-aged man sighed and shifted the food tray to his other hand. The first task was almost done for the day. All that was left was room #5232.  
  
He wished it wasn't so far away. It was beyond him why they kept that one patient apart from the others. As far as he knew, she wasn't particularly violent (he hoped they would tell him those sorts of things). She was pleasant enough, for someone who rocked back and forth all day, muttering the same phrase over and over.   
  
But she must have stopped at some point in the day to eat, the tray was always empty when he made his rounds on the way back.  
  
It was sad really. She was a pretty brunette in her thirties. At one point in her life, she had been somebody's daughter, wife, or even mother. Now all she could do was mumble "I couldn't find them to save them" over and over and over for the past ten years...  
  
Mr. Tanuki switched the tray to his other hand again. This place was getting to him. He was all "thinking deep thoughts" lately. It couldn't be good for him.  
  
"Finally..." Mr. Tanuki stopped abruptly in front of room #5232, took a deep breath, and walked in.  
  
Suffice to say, Mr. Tanuki was a little more than surprised when today, the occupant of room number 5232 looked up, smiled pleasantly, and asked, "May I have a cup of coffee?"  
  
----  
  
Ukyou woke up with a mission.  
  
Everything was suddenly clear. All her problems, hardships, troubles with Ranma; everything had crystallized into one fine perfect point.  
  
Today was the day she got herself a life.   
  
And it wasn't going to be one of those 'curse spring - fiancée chasing - heart breaking- gorilla girl better than her - icecream eating late at night -- pig boy's a jackass--life just sucked' sort of life!   
  
No! It was going to be one girl uniform wearing - school club going - bento eating under the sakura blossoms - love diary exchanging - freakin rose colored high school life if she had to kill half of the student body to make it happen!  
  
If her life was going to try to collapse on itself, she was going to MAKE it come together!  
  
Ukyou stomped up to the gates of Furinken High school. The skirt of her girl school uniform ruffled in the breeze. She clutched her normal bento tightly in one hand, and held a clipboard to her side with the other. She glanced calmly at the incoming idiot hoard of dumbass Furinken men and smiled softly. It was beyond her why they felt the need to maul her just because of a change of outfit.  
  
With the end of the summer break, came the birth of her new life. Her first task was dealing with the idiots. She turned and watched the incoming hoard, calmly. Bring it on. She was ready for them.  
  
"Ukyou! I love you!" said a hockey player.  
  
"Ukyou go out with me!" said a basketball player.  
  
"Marry meeeeee!" said a tennis player.  
  
"Your okonomiyaki stole my heart!" said a soccer player.  
  
"Ukyou, you're the one for me!" said... some other sports team guy in typical cheap valentine fashion.  
  
Today the idiots were going to get what they deserved.  
  
"Ok! Everyone, line up!" Ukyou brandished her clipboard in front of her like a Roman gladiator shield.  
  
The Furinken hoard stopped abruptly, and used their combined two brain cells to look confused.  
  
"I said line up maggots! If you want to date me, your going to have to..." Sunlight glinted off Ukyou's clipboard as she held it high above her head. "FILL OUT MY SURVEY."  
  
The idiot hoard blinked again. One of the basketball players borrowed the other brain cell and used it to speak. "Uh, why? Can't we just go out and have a nice time?"  
  
"Feh, nice time! I'm a working woman with goals and dreams! I can't waste my time on men who are only looking for a "nice time"! What do you take me for? A ramen-selling hussy? No! A woman needs stability in her life! She needs someone who will still be there at the end of the day! She needs someone who is serious!"  
  
Three men wandered out of the group.  
  
"High school isn't that much longer! I need someone whose in it for the long haul! I need someone who would be willing to run the restaurant with me. I need an engagement ring and a really big wedding!"  
  
A dozen men walked off briskly from the group.  
  
"I need a father of my future children!"  
  
Half of the men ran for their lives. The rest of the men blinked in fear, but nevertheless seemed rooted to the spot.  
  
Ukyou laughed nervously and started to hand out the surveys. "Heh, got a little carried away there."   
  
The group stared blankly.   
  
"Anyways! Please fill out these surveys and bring them back to me at lunch time! I will have a foldout table set up near the swimming pool to collect your answers."  
  
The group looked confused.  
  
"What's your problem? Go! Fill them out!"  
  
The assorted loser Furinken guys shuffled away looking at their papers like gorillas in the zoo. Some of them were turning them over and over. Ukyou frowned as one of the retreating members turned his survey into a paper airplane as several other guys pointed to it and made some grunts.  
  
Oh well, there had to be some decent normal guy in the lot.  
  
Then one guy tried to eat his survey.   
  
"Dude! I told you I could fit the entire thing in my mouth!"  
  
Ukyou cringed. Well, everything would probably work out...   
  
----  
  
Things were going pretty well for Ranma Saotome.  
  
All of the pretending had ended. He had finally confessed to the girl he was in love with and vice versa. IN LOVE WITH... it sounded kinda nice. He was aware he was slowly turning into one of those love struck idiots who didn't roll their eyes at love songs (as is the proper manly thing to do). In fact, if it was possible, he'd probably kick his own ass for acting like such a pansy.  
  
But still... this whole love thing wasn't half bad.  
  
Sure, he was still fighting with Akane, but they weren't the same kind of fights. Instead of words that went straight for the vitals, the insults had been reduced to superficial wounds. Most of the time, the fights felt like verbal sparring. Besides, the making up afterwards was more than worth it.  
  
Ranma was aware of the stupid lop-sided grin stretching across his face, but he couldn't bring himself to care.  
  
Yesterday, he had gone shopping with Akane to the local mall. He'd been in such a good mood that day, he'd even let her pick him out some clothes. That... had been a very bad idea. Akane with a handful of cash and too much time on her hands was a very horrible thing to behold. He was sure she could turn her skills into some kind of "scare your boyfriend with shopping martial arts" but the techniques would be too horrible to ever release into the world.  
  
The clothes she had finally picked out were all right. He'd bought black pants and a plain muscle shirt. Akane had tried to get him to buy this hiking boots, but what kind of idiot would try fighting in those clunky things?   
  
He'd even allowed Akane to drag him to get a hair cut. The hairdresser had cut his bangs pretty well; turning them slightly spiky with two long pieces falling across his forehead. However, he hadn't let her touch his ponytail. Not bad. He could see better in a fight now.  
  
Everything in his life was coming together; it was like some kind of cosmic refund for all of the shitty stuff that had ever happened to him!  
  
There were still a few hurdles to overcome. Ukyou had given up on him and seemed to be on some weird personal quest. It sucked that she had been avoiding him lately, but he really couldn't blame her. As long as she had really given up and showed no signs of going on a mindless rampage with okonomiyaki bombs, he couldn't complain.  
  
Ranma's grin wavered.  
  
Speaking of mindless rampages, a certain purple haired weapon of mass destruction could go off any day now. Shampoo had learned of Akane and Ranma's relationship recently, but she hadn't done anything yet. Ranma knew it was only a matter of time, and the more days that passed peacefully the more nervous he became.  
  
He should be able to handle Shampoo by herself. He hated hitting girls, but if Akane's life was at stake... Ranma's blood turned to ice. Just the thought of someone seriously hurting her made him so... so... Well, he wasn't sure what the emotion was, but it scared him with its intensity.  
  
The ghoul was an even bigger problem. Cologne wouldn't give him up without a fight. She was using this time to think up something BIG. What was she planning? The wait was killing him. But whatever the old hag threw at him, he'd get through it.  
  
He WAS Ranma Saotome after all.  
  
Ranma shuffled his feet and looked around the school yard. It was lunchtime and his stomach was rattling the bars of its cage. He was SOOOOO hungry. Akane had gotten a note from a girl buddy of hers asking for tutoring help so today he had to eat alone. Maybe he'd go for a bread run to the corner convience store.  
  
Ranma's eyes lit up as he saw Ukyou making her way across the school's front lawn. Even better! Okonomiyaki would really hit the spot right now.  
  
"Hey Ucchan!"  
  
Ukyou turned around with some difficulty, dragging a folding chair, clipboard, and table behind her. "Eh?" Her gaze darkened as she recognized who he was.  
  
"How have you been Uch--"  
  
"Hold up you!"  
  
Huh?  
  
"You don't get a survey!"  
  
A what?  
  
"You had your chance buster, but the Ukyou train has left the station! Go back to Akane railways where you belong!" Ukyou stuck her tongue out and walked away, much to Ranma's absolute amazement.   
  
"Did I just get... snubbed?" Impossible! Ranma Saotome does not get snubbed!  
  
...right?  
  
---  
  
Mousse was a very desperate man.  
  
The old crone's plans would soon reach a point of no return. Mousse knew he had to do something to keep Shampoo away from the bastard Saotome. Fueled by his desperation, the near sighted martial artist had come up with a plan of his own. A plan that crossed a line that most men weren't willing to cross.  
  
With this new clarity, Mousse had finally realized he had been going about his war with Saotome all wrong. He didn't need to defeat Ranma. The real reason the old crone wanted Shampoo to marry Ranma was because he'd father lots of strong children. The plan was so simple, so brilliant. Why hadn't he thought of it before? Mousse knew what he had to do...  
  
He held up a tiny hammer in the air.  
  
He was going to make Ranma Saotome... IMPOTENT!  
  
"Bwhahahaha!"  
  
Ah, nothing like a good maniacal laugh to clear the head! But he had to be quiet now...  
  
Mousse sunk lower into a bundle of dark green bushes. Any minute now, the pigtailed womanizer would be walking this way past him. Mousse had been able to divert Akane with a false letter from a friend so she wouldn't be in the way.  
  
Any minute now... Yes! There he was!  
  
Mousse tensed up to strike...  
  
"Bread! FREE bread!"  
  
Ranma abruptly switched direction and ran toward a bread stand across the street.   
  
Mousse gaped. That bastard! Didn't he realize the danger he and Ranma jr. was in?! This was not a time to be eating!   
  
The bread store owner seemed unfazed as Ranma began to devour every free sample on the poor man's cart. Mousse glared ahead as Ranma stuffed his face. The disgusting bastard, did he have no manners at all?  
  
Then something happened that would brighten Mousse's mood for days to come.  
  
Abruptly, and suddenly, Ranma passed out.  
  
This in itself was enough to get a chuckle. Then, something else hilarious happened.  
  
The so called nice and innocent bread stand owner began to laugh manically. Then two girls jumped out of the bushes and screamed something. They argued for a bit, then seemed to come to an agreement which also involved smacking Ranma's unconscious body around.   
  
Mousse started to laugh so hard his sides ached.  
  
Then, as if this wasn't already the bestest day ever--  
  
He got dragged away by strange hooded cultists. Freakin. Hooded. Black robed wearing. Evil looking. Cultists.  
  
Today was just wonderful.  
  
---  
  
Well... Ryouga's psyche was beginning to feel a bit bitch slapped.  
  
Light peeked through cracked floorboards and trickled down to the ground. The light created a halo around the arcane site. The area around the shrine tasted stale and dead. A slight breeze blew from... somewhere. Ryouga wasn't sure where. The only sound he could hear was the beating of his own heart.  
  
The lost boy slowly shook off the dust from his hair. Gee, it was a good thing he had taken a bath before coming down to the basement. Heaven forbid he stay CLEAN for too long. It was like the pig curse was speaking to him. 'Bwee. It's fun to wallow in the dirt Ryouga. Bweeee. Joooiiin Uuuuuusss in the muuuuud. Bweeeee.'  
  
Nothing in his life ever came to him easily.  
  
After brushing his pants off, Ryouga gave the area a good once over. The large tapestries that hung from the wall were wrinkled and crumbling. Faint red ink was barely identifiable; the characters long since faded. Beneath the hangings, a small ledge was carved from the rock. Within, sat three ancient candles, a mirror, and several miniature dragon statues. The face of the statue was reflected in the mirror's dusty surface. Ryouga's eyes spotted a faint pattern carved into the rock. He step back and revealed a twenty foot Chinese dragon carved into the wall.  
  
"Whoa." Did his family know this was down here? There was something seriously wrong when you had so much junk you forgot about the evil shrine in your basement. Then again, it's not like he could give the stuff away to the needy.  
  
'Here you go orphanage! Candles made out of human flesh!  
  
Gee golly, thanks Mr. Ryouga, sir!'  
  
Nope, that wouldn't work.  
  
Ryouga walked around checking the other tapestries and items. The dragon statues were made of simple stone, nothing very interesting about them. However the mirror was the old type of mirror where designs appeared on the back when the light shown on it. Ryouga could remember learning in elementary school that people used to believe mirrors held the owner's soul. What was it doing down here? The thing should be in a REAL shrine or a museum vault, not collecting dust in his basement.   
  
As for the statue of himself, Ryouga didn't really know what to think. It sure looked like him, albeit, a feudal era him. The hair and dress were different, but the face was the same. The statue had the same eyes that glared at the world. The same mouth that hardly ever smiled. There was even tiny frown creases carved at the corner of the mouth. The piece was a work of art. And very, very--  
  
"Creepy."   
  
The lost boy stood in front of the statue, comparing his height to its. It was an exact match. He stood back for a moment and tried to mentally lower the creep out factor. So what if people were making very handsome statues hundreds of years ago? Wasn't that just good taste?  
  
"Damn it!" Denial wasn't working either! Stupid creepy statue!  
  
Ryouga's gaze unconsciously slid toward the mirror. The thing freaked him out, too. Goosebumps rose on his skin. Chills did tap dances down his spine. The closer he got to the mirror, the more the wind around him began to sound like human whispers... He knew he was being superstitious again, but he couldn't help it.   
  
It was odd. He didn't know why, but he has this overwhelming urge to break it. And the more he stared, the more his whole body screamed out to smash it into a thousand pieces.  
  
He could feel it in his blood. Hear it in the wind.  
  
Smash it... smash it...  
  
But it was disrespectful. What if a mirror really could hold someone's soul, what would breaking it do?  
  
SMASH IT. SMASH IT.  
  
He took a step forward, walking past the stone image of himself. The whispers became louder. His right hand seemed to clench of its own accord.  
  
SMASH IT. SMASH IT.  
  
The god damned voices were really starting to get annoying. But... maybe if he just LOOKED at it... He wasn't going to do anything, just look.  
  
SMASH IT! SMASH IT!  
  
Where the hell were those voices coming from? They kept getting louder and more intense, speaking so fast their words were running together.  
  
SmAshItDEstRoyitleTmeoUtsMasHit!   
  
He stepped closer.  
  
SmAsHiTsMASh...  
  
Finally, he realized he was standing a few feet from its smooth dusty surface. The voices were screaming themselves hoarse now, the wind was whipping at his hair. The shadows on the rock walls had begun to look like grasping hands...  
  
With his heart thumping in his ears, he turned and gazed at the mirror.  
  
"What the hell?!" That wasn't his own reflection!  
  
He jumped back and bumped the mirror with his right hand.  
  
The mirror fell to the ground in slow motion, shattering into tiny shards. The wind whispers abruptly vanished. Silence reigned supreme within the room. Ryouga stared, transfixed at the pieces scattered on the ground.   
  
He could see red at the edge of his vision... a red right hand. The hand gripped his shoulder.  
  
Then all hell broke loose.  
  
----  
  
ashes: There you go, you're in the story now! ^_^  
  
Ranma: You SUCK.  
  
Contact info:   
  
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com  
  
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/  
  
aol instant messenger: ashes chan   
  
Next Chapter: Ukyou continues her slightly misguided quest for the perfect high school life, and Ryouga has one hell of a vision. 


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Ranma 1/2. If I did, I'd be getting paid and chapters would come much more quickly. Also, Quick-edit has destroyed my formatting and I don't feel like bowing down to it. Thus, expect sentences with no ending punctuation (pretend there's a hyphen there). In addition, sentences that used to have a question mark-exclamation combination punctuation now only have a question mark. My website has a non-butchered version.

**Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days **

**Chapter 15**

"Gaaaaaaah!"

Where was it? Something had just grabbed his shoulder! He was REALLY getting tired of supernatural forces messing with him! Why couldn't the evil ghosts or demons or whatever they were just be upfront with him? Why couldn't they just walk up and go 'Hello Mr. Ryouga would you like to fight to the death now?'

He could TOTALLY deal with that. But nooooOooo they had to speak inside his head and grab him in the darkness. Stupid bastards! Oh he was gonna kick whatever it was ass and then he'd hit him and kickhiminthefaceandsteponhisballsandbreakalofhisarmsandripouthisteethand

"Gah." Blood pressure. Rising. He. Needed. To. Breathe.

Breathe in. Breathe out. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out.

Ryouga paused.

That sounded sorta perverted...

Gah! Stupid teenaged hormones! He had to get it together! Ok. Breathing normal. Blood pressure not sky rocketing. Aneurysm not imminent.

So where was that creepy thing that had grabbed his shoulder? He glanced around the area.

Nothing on the left.

Nothing on the right.

But he could still sense someone at the edge of his vision, watching. The wind blew softly, whistling through cracks in the walls.

Ryouga glanced down at the glass shards strewn about the dirt. A dozen broken images of himself stared back at him like a low budget fun house. He almost didn't recognize himself for a moment, unaccustomed to seeing the scar running down his eye.

He turned and glanced at the statue. Heh, the old carving had the same cut running down its stone face...

How had the mirror shattered? He had been facing it and then... it was like it jumped into his hands. Or had his hand reach for it?

Ryouga had no idea which was the truth. In fact, he really had no idea what was going on lately at all. It was like whoever was in charge of the universe had lost his or her outline to the world, and had just been winging everything for the past couple of months. But even with all of the current chaos, he was sure of one thing.

He was SO not going to clean the basement today.

Well, this little excursion to his house seemed to have turned up nothing, except a creepy ass statue and cobwebs on places of his body that cobwebs should never be. And why wasn't there at least a giant spider demon to justify the cobwebs? That'd be way cooler than some stupid mirror thing. He was sure all of the stuff meant SOMETHING, but he had no idea what. He appreciated the signs, but he needed some REALLY obvious ones. A bright neon sign maybe. Visions with Cliff Notes. Or even a "Curses for Dummies" book. Couldn't the universe just give him a br

He paused.

The wind stopped whispering.

And reappeared as a dozen screaming voices inside his head.

'tHrIcE cuRsEd... he PrOmIseD 30 gENeraTiOns aGo... nOtHinG coMeS fOr FReE... SAKura LoNG TeRM HealtH FaCilItY... fAtHer liED...'

The voice paused.

'btW, tHeRe Is gOiNg tO bE a fIRe IN tHaT bLUe houSE dOWn tHE sTreet nExt tO THe cOnvIenCe sToRe, yOu MiGhT wAnt tO gO Do sOMEthIng abOuT tHAt laTeR.'

And then, like an afterthought...

'eVeRYthIng cOmEs bAcK evEnTuaLlY... EVERYTHING...'

As if that wasn't enough while his brain still felt like it was getting grated like Swiss cheese, his vision was graying along the edges like a burnt film reel... He was gently sinking downward, away from his body. Which was bad, since he didn't want to go anywhere out of his body, let alone in the downward direction.

Finally, Ryouga couldn't hold on anymore and lost his foothold in reality, falling into oblivion... The last thing he heard before darkness overtook him was the voices whispering...

'eVeRythIng...'

Time: 4:00pm Location: Furinken High school Mission 2: Procure normal high school friends

Ukyou stood in the midst of the semi-annual Furinken School Club Fair, feeling her previous confidence start to ebb away. All around her students milled about from booth to booth signing up for everything from soccer to martial arts ping pong.

She gulped and clenched her fists. This was no time to chicken out! She was on a mission! Besides, she had to get this done and then go back to her table to see if anyone turned in their surveys.

Her mission would not be derailed!

Sitting a few feet from her was her quarry. The small group of girls was huddled behind a pink colored booth, decorated to look like cake icing... The three aproned young ladies chatted excitedly to themselves in highs squeaky pitched voices peppered with lots of giggling.

This was the big time. High pitched giggles. Pink stuff. There was no turning back now. It was do or die! ...right?

Ukyou wiped her sweaty palms off on her skirt.

What was she worried about? It was just a cooking club. She was a professional chef. People paid money to eat the food she prepared. There was no reason for her to be worried about a little cooking club.

Yeah! Why was she worrying about a rinky-dinky cooking club? Even if those pink aprons looked awfully girly... She had abandoned her womanhood for so long, would she be able to connect with normal girls? Would she be able to talk about normal girl stuff? Would they think she was weird? Would they even let her join the club? What if

Ukyou shook her head violently. She had to stop all these 'what ifs' and just get the damn thing over with already! The second step in operation "rose colored high school life" was at hand!

The nervous okonomiyaki chef smoothed out her hair, straightened her uniform, and stomped off to the cooking club's table.

The three girls looked up and fell suddenly silent at her approach. Ukyou couldn't help thinking they looked a little bit like deer caught in the headlights... or Ryouga caught in headlights.

"Is this the sign up for the cooking club? I'd"

The girls burst into motion.

"Oh my gosh! Ukyou wants to join our club!" Girl One jumped up from her seat, knocking over the sign up sheet.

"Ukyou, like in, Ukyou from Ucchans!" Girl Two grabbed the sign up sheet from the ground and shoved it into Ukyou's face.

"Wow, A real restaurant owner!" Girl Three began to cry tears of joy.

Ukyou winced inwardly. These were good reactions ... right?

Girl One jumped up and down excitedly and aimed a puppy dog expression in her direction. "You're going to join? Oh please, join!"

"Uh... yes?"

"OOoOOOOOooOOOO!" the girls cries of happiness became a single squeal that eventually reached a pitch only dogs could hear.

Ukyou wasn't sure what happened next, but it involved lots of hugs, pink clothing, ribbons, someone threatening to give her a makeover, cakes, and something about a secret handshake?

Time of Mission completion: 4:03pm Objective: Complete.  
Mission 2: ... successful?

There are lots of things Ryouga would like to be doing on a Monday afternoon. Slowly coming to consciousness was very low on the list. Unsurprisingly, coming to consciousness on top of a sharp pointy rock was even lower on the list. And slowly coming to consciousness on a sharp pointy rock as a spectator in a 14th century Japan flashback was so low on the list that whoever made the list needed to join a union, 'cause it was just too damn long.

Ryouga gingerly lifted himself upright and gazed out at the horizon.

Fireflies dotted the midnight air, coming to life suddenly with a soft green-ish glow, and then disappearing into the night. Clouds drifted by the full moon, creating brief shadows. The humid air smelled like fried meat.

Ryouga wiped the sweat from his brow and cursed under his breathe. He'd read enough bad manga in his spare time to know what was going on. Either he had went back in time, he said a silent prayer to whoever was listening that this was not the case (at least he had been no where near Tokyo Tower), or he was having a flashback.

Considering the mysterious presence he could feel hovering over his shoulder just out of sight, he figured the latter was probably true.

Beneath him, at the bottom of a grassy hill, lay a sprawling village enclosed in a high stone wall. He could see small dot-like people rushing about like ants. On the outskirts, peasant shaped dots busied themselves preparing for... something. What did feudal peasants do in their spare time? Well, other than die in large numbers...

At a bit of a loss, Ryouga walked down from his vantage point and attempted to get one of the peasants to notice him.

At the bottom, he paused as several barrels of rice rolled through him (literally) followed by a gaggle of laughing children.

"So let me guess..." Ryouga addressed the inky dark presence hovering just slightly out of the corner of his eye. "This is one of those, no one can see and hear me deals? Can't affect the past, bla bla bla?"

No reply came.

Feh, whatta bastard; all hovering on the edge of his consciousness, acting as if he was the Ghost of Christmas Past or something. Stupid poser.

Ryouga stepped through the village gates and past the surprisingly not mal-nourished and plague infested peasants, and into the main square.

Brightly colored paper lanterns, lined the street. The balls of covered light danced as a soft summer wind blew. Streamers of silk hung from window to window, connecting the narrow street and adding to the chaos. Vendors sold sticks of meat and tea from all sides. Nearby, someone was pounding a large drum, making his teeth rattle with every boom.

What kind of place in feudal Japan had so much silk they could waste it on dozens and dozens of banners? And if that wasn't weird enough the festival goers gave him chills. The masked patrons moved with an ethereal quality. It was as if they were underwater; smooth, deliberate, and inhumanly graceful.

Cautiously, the time displaced martial artist inched closer to a booth of patrons.

"I do not lie to you my lady; I was born from a peach." A large burly hulk of a man, took a long swig from his sake bottle. "My mother and father were quite surprised." The burly man burst into raucous laughter, knocking over a large broad sword by his side.

His companion, a beautiful woman wearing a long red feathered cloak looked on in disgust. "This is why I never come down here anymore."

Ryouga left them and continued walking through the street, hearing snippets of conversation as he passed.

"I could have stayed in that cave forever had I not been tricked

"If someone had just said, "Mr. Turtle, the pebble is not your baby I could ha

"And that is when I killed the giant centipede."

"I don't neow about that"

Was that the cat ghost that had possessed him that one time? He thought he had seen a flash of white fur but it was already gone in the crowd. Ryouga could have sworn it was him...

"Oh, Ameratsu-sama that's amazing."

The crowd flowed through him like water as he walked.

"Yamamoto-kun tell us the story of when you founded"

"All one-eyed ninja are calling themselves Jubei these days. Disposing of the impostors is becoming troublesome."

Ryouga paused wanting to hear that one, but the man with the eye patch man had already disappeared into the crowd.

Gradually, the sounds of the crowd faded into an inaudible mumble as Ryouga found himself at the end of the path. Faint shadows criss-crossed the cobblestone street and then sank into the cracked surface. In front of him, a weather beaten archway straddled wide stone steps. The steps seemed to stretch on endlessly into the sky. He hesitated in the gloom, half expecting a neon exit sign to light up in the distance.

Ryouga had a bad feeling about this. This place just screamed trouble, even worse than the time he'd wandered into that infectious disease lab. They really should label those jars more clearly... But maybe this path would lead to answers? The cult, the visions, his family's underground shrine; they all had to be connected somehow.

Well, he really had no choice. He had to see what lay ahead. Hopefully the explanation would involve color graphs and charts otherwise he still might not get it.

Funny how dropping out of school came back to haunt you later...

After taking a deep breath, he started up the staircase and reached the top in less than a minute. A shrine stood before him, seemingly balanced on a lake. The roof was bright red with an elegant curve to the edge. The building's foundation was raised on stilts above the water giving the appearance of a resting swan. A faint yellow glow leaked from the paper door.

Beneath Ryouga's feet, the stone ground became a mosaic of a red dragon...

Finally, he reached the shrine and walked through the paper door.

Spicy incense smoke burned Ryouga's nose.

The inner shrine was simple and plain, with a roped off section in the center. Small broken dragon statues sat in the center on a blanket of red clothe. The cut down the middle of the dragon was smooth and clean. The far side of the room was shrouded in darkness.

"Welcome." A young priestess stepped out of the shadows. Her red and white robes swished as she stepped toward the warrior. Her face was obscured by a carefully crafted cat mask. The fangs on her mask glinted silver in the faint moonlight. Long brown hair fell down her back. She carried a wooden staff with bells attached to it in her right hand.

"Eh?" Ryouga took a step back. Could she see him!

Footsteps echoed behind him.

"Greetings priestess."

Ryouga turned around and froze in shock. Standing in front of him was a mirror image of himself. His doppelganger was dressed in sparse armor, somewhere between a ninja and a samurai. Long unruly bangs fell into his eyes. The warrior crouched low on the ground; his warrior army creaked as he sat on his knees.

"Why have you come here?" The masked priestess stopped in front of the crouched warrior.

"I need to be stronger."

Ryouga raised an eyebrow. Uh oh...

The warrior bowed his head. "I have traveled far to come here. Please, forgive my insolence at arriving at such a special occasion."

The priestess laughed hollowly. "They have endless years of festivals to look forward to. More than we could even imagine. I doubt they have even noticed your presence."

"Is it true?" The warrior glanced up, his eyes gleaming. "Can you grant me power?"

"I can grant you the power to fell trees with your bare hands, to walk from sea to sea without resting, you can be stronger than fifty men... but it will come with a price."

By the manic gleam in his doppelganger's eye, Ryouga could tell he had been won over by "fell trees with your bare hands" before she even got to the 'strength of fifty men' deal. Hell, by the time she had finished, there was a slight line of drool running down the warrior's chin. This couldn't be good. He half expected the priestess to whip out a magic calligraphy pen.

"Be warned. Any kind of magical exchange requires a price. The more serious the exchange, the more drastic the price. And this..." Ryouga could have sworn she was deliberately pausing for dramatic effect. "Will require a VERY high price indeed."

The warrior's eyes focused slightly. "The price cannot be my life or my soul. Anything else is yours."

Ryouga felt like slapping the guy. That moron! He was SO going to get screwed on this deal! This was way too open ended. So what if she didn't steal your soul or kill you? She might cut off your arms and legs. Then what would he do with the strength of fifty men?

Or... Ryouga gulped. She could cut off something REALLY important. Forget losing your soul, this guy needed to get his priorities straight.

"Before you decide, let me show you something." The priestess walked over to the broken dragon statue, picked the piece up, and handed it to the warrior.

"But what is...?"

"Grasp it with both hands." She folded his hands around the statue. "And see."

The warrior jolted as if an electric current was running through his body, his eyes widened, and his body began to tremble. He shivered silently for several minutes, eyes staring forward; seeing, yet not seeing. Until finally, he looked up and stared at the spot Ryouga was standingAnd SAW Ryouga.

Gazes locked across time; identical green eyes connected in a moment that felt separate from time. Finally, the warrior broke away.

"I'm sorry."

Wait a minute! He could see him! Ryouga tried to lunge forward, but his feet felt rooted to the spot. He tried to scream, to cry out, to say ANYTHING but he had been struck mute.

The warrior ripped his head toward the priestess. "I accept your terms."

Ryouga screamed silently in frustration. What the hell was going on! DAMN IT! Why couldn't he say anything! Move! Move! God damn body move!

The priestess nodded. "So be it." She raised her staff high above her head.

Ryouga froze and sucked in this breathe.

Light flashed.

The priestess and warrior stayed still and silent for several seconds. Ryouga listened to his breathe, unable to make any other sounds. Finally, after a few moments stretched out over a lifetime the warrior looked up from his kneeling position and opened his hands.

The statue had disappeared. A trickle of blood ran down his eye.

Was that it? Ryouga had really expecting more, like maybe summoning a demon or opening a portal to the spirit realm or... Ryouga wasn't sure, maybe something should have been set on fire. Fire always made things look more dramatic.

"That's it?" The warrior wiped the droplet of blood from his eye with the tip of his thumb. "You're not going to... cut anything off? Or at the very least, ring your bells?"

The priestess flicked her staff casually, jingling the bells slightly. "Satisfied?" She paused. "But if you really want something cut off..."

"No! That is all right." He stood up. "Please excuse me for a moment. I need to relieve" He blushed. "Excuse me." He walked briskly out of the room.

The priestess smiled softly once the warrior was out of reach. "Both parts in the same night... heh. Goodbye Ushinatte-sama."

Ryouga heard, with a sickening feeling in his gut, the warrior muttering to himself outside.

"The shrine was just here. Where am I now?"

The scene changed.

He was suddenly back in his basement, staring upwards into a large hole.

Well, that told him... SOMETHING. He could have really used some nice colorful graphs and charts though.

----

**Additional Notes: **A couple people asked if this was going to be an Inuyasha crossover. The answer is... not really. I just like throwing in little Easter egg crossovers for the hell of it. I know this chapter is short, but after trying to think up something else to put in it for a month and coming up with nothing, I decided to just release it.

**Next Chapter: **Ukyou proceeds with her perfect high school life plan. And Ryouga, armed with his dad's address book, goes on a quest to discover his place in the universe and the mysteries that have been plaguing him. But more importantly, he takes a survey.

Oh yeah, and Ranma's going to be in it... probably.

Ranma: Probably?


	16. Chapter 16

Note: Three years between updates… that has to be some kind of record, huh?

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Ranma ½ . If I did, I'd be a real writer and if I tried to not update for years like I did with this fic I'd starve!

**Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days**

**Chapter 16**

----

The sun was barely filtering through dark gray clouds overhead as Ryouga walked slowly through a nearly empty park. The air felt heavy, promising rain. It was times like these he wished he could just let it rain on him, get drenched from his head down to his soul.

And maybe the rain would get rid of the smell too. He was SO tired of smelling like a barbeque restaurant! Shouldn't the smell have disappeared in three days?

Stupid family of five making him save them from a burning building! Bah! And damn those building makers too and their lack of fire exits! It was times like this he just wanted to... teach about fire safety?

Well, something like that. But the stupid voice in his head hadn't told him to save anyone else in the past week, so at least he hadn't been drafted into some kind of superhero deal. Tights were SOOO embarrassing. He didn't think he could bear having his stuff all on display.

Ryouga sighed and flipped through another page in his father's spare address book. At least, going to his home hadn't been a complete waste. He hadn't really expected to find anything in his father's study, certainly not an address book. The little black book had been dusty and worn, but it seemed to be an important link.

Considering names were organized under categories like "Seer", "exorcists", "demon exterminator", "occult expert", "ghost hunter", and "crazy supernatural shit you should stay away from"; how could it not be?

So here he was on day three of his 'bother people in my dad's address book' quest. Unfortunately, most of the listings had turned up nothing but empty buildings and wrong numbers.

A couple listings had been interesting, if not completely helpful.

At the Higarashi shrine there had been some weirdo cosplay guy there dressed up like a dog man so he had quickly left. Otaku people scared him.

The goddess hotline hung up on him, saying something about him needing to work on his anger management skills and that they didn't give wishes to violent people like him and how did he get their number? And no they did NOT want to change their long distance service... all before he had a chance to even open his mouth. He figured it must be some kind of strange phone sex line and gave up.

Which sadly wouldn't be all that out of character for his dad to have in his address book.

Ryouga had then stopped by "Genkai's" place, but Genkai didn't live there anymore and instead there was a restaurant there. The owner, some nice lady named Keiko, sold him some good tasting ramen while her rough looking husband complained about the dent Ryouga had accidentally made in their door. After getting struck by a chi blast that came out of nowhere, he paid for the door and his food and then took his slightly crispy self elsewhere.

And then there had been that fortune teller in Kansai...

---

The day before...

Ryouga leaned forward, looking at the plump fortune teller with a mixture of awe and trepidation. The so called seer swept her long grey hair over her shoulder and waved her bangled wrists over her crystal ball.

"Ah, I see it all now. Yes, it's becoming clear!" She gasped. "The stars are aligning in a special formation that only happens every thousand of years! A great burden has been cast upon your shoulders. Only you can stop the universe from total destruction and stop the evil from---hold up. Whoops! Got the magic scrying board upside down." She flipped her board. "Now it says... keep on trucking kid. Please deposit 800 yen in the cup! Have a nice day!

Ryouga stared. "You expect me to pay for that?!"

----

And he couldn't forget about that lady from the Phantom Quest Corp and her bouncy... NO! He was not allowed to go to happy flashback land anymore! He was still feeling woozy from all the blood he had lost that morning.

So here he was, finally checking the last name in the book, organized by the western alphabet...

Y: for Yuko.

Yuko Ichihara to be exact. And it had a damn heart drawn next to it. Nothing good could come of that.

Ryouga stopped, double checked the address, and grimaced. Yep, this was the place. This area just screamed 'up to supernatural stuff'. An impressive Victorian style house with a beautiful lawn was flanked on all sides by skyscrapers. An ornate gate decorated with crescent moons surrounded the property. It was like time had stopped in this small section of land...

And, knowing his luck lately, it probably had.

Ryouga hesitantly opened the gate, vaguely feeling a tingling in his fingertips as the iron gate opened with an ominous creak. He couldn't resist the urge to roll his eyes. Suspicious gothic house? Check. Creaky Gate? Check.

He stepped free of the opening and watched as the gate slid shut of its own violation.

Gate with a mind of its own that closes by itself as if showing that you can never escape the dark grisly fate awaiting you inside the house? Double check!

Walking into an unknown person's house that you found in your dad's address book while looking for information about why you've suddenly started to see the future, hear voices in your head, and no longer have the family curse?

Priceless.

Ryouga followed a stone path leading up towards the house, braced himself at the front door and paused at the sound of voices.

"Watanuki's reading porn!" Two little kids chanted in unison.

"It's not porn!" That sounded like a guy around Ryouga's age. "It's my health science book! Come on, hand it over! I've got homework!"

"Ah, our little boy is growing up." That was a woman's voice. It sounded older than the man's voice to Ryouga's ears. Not a lot older, but definitely not a teenager.

"Watanuki's turning into a man! Watanuki's turning into a man!" the weird children chorused again.

"Soon, he'll be growing hair where there was no hair before!" The older woman cackled viciously.

"Argh!" The teenaged guy made some really unmanly screechy sounds.

Ryouga promptly turned around.

"Go make some tea Watanuki! We have a visitor!" The woman cackled again. It must have been her hobby or something. A cackling madly hobby. Just the kind of person you want to visit.

Before he knew what was happening, his feet had taken on minds of their own (which was an oddly nostalgic feeling) and carried him into the house.

The interior was very much like the exterior: old fashioned and fancy like an eccentric old lady's home.

But this lady was anything but old.

Ryouga's eyes widened at the figure lounging in the center of the room on a chair like throne. Dark tendrils of hair cascaded down her pale body and were blown gently in the air by a mysterious breeze, a red dress clung to soft...

"I'm up here."

"S-sorry! ...err I mean, what are you talking about? Heh heh."

Busted.

In more ways than one...

The lady's cool indifferent gaze bored into his very soul. Red ruby lips slid into a smirk. The atmosphere in the room was chilled and that mysterious wind continued to blow, making her hair seem almost a separate living entity.

And then, quite suddenly, the mood deflated.

"Heeeeeey! You're Hoshi's son Ryouga aren't ya?" The woman grinned genuinely but didn't lose an ounce of intimidation. "Heh, leave it to a Hibiki to confuse the workings of time and space, let alone the gate's seal..." She squinted at me for a moment then suddenly seemed to know… something. Ryouga had no idea what.

"Yeah, that's my dad's name. I saw your name, Miss Yuuko Ichihara, in my dad's address book and I was hoping you could help me?"

"Perhaps." She turned around and waved at a spot behind her back Ryouga couldn't see. "Can the mysterious wind Watanuki. It's wasted on this customer."

A skinny guy wearing a black high school uniform and glasses poked his head out from an alcove off to Yuuko's right. He was holding a paper fan. "Why'd you even ask me to do this in the first place?"

Yuuko rolled her eyes. "What's the point of having long hair if it doesn't mysteriously flutter in the breeze in dramatic moments?"

She turned to face Ryouga again and melted back into her throne. "Oh well, the exercise is good for you. Go make us some tea." She paused. "And snacks, Hibiki's are always hungry." She waved her hand dismissively like a queen.

Hey, that was sorta-

Ryouga's stomach rumbled.

Completely true, unfortunately.

The glasses guy disappeared behind a screen door and the sound of a paper fan being ripped to pieces violently could be heard from the other side.

"So, um…" Ryouga cleared his throat and tried to squash the mounting sense of nervousness he was feeling in the pit of his belly. He was NOT intimidated by this mysterious otherworldly lady with giant—yeah not intimated at all. "You see I've got a problem I—"

"Problems. Plural."

"Problems?"

"Kid," She looked at Ryouga like he was her favorite nephew… her favorite mentally retarded nephew. "You have MANY MANY problems." Her smirk turned even more cat-like. "Your family, the little piggy wiggly, your relationships or lack thereof with the opposite sex, your education, your terrible fashion sense--"

"Hey! A GIRL picked these clothes out!"

Yuuko raised one thin black eyebrow. "A girl who is known to frequently cross-dress in men's clothing?"

"Well she'd know about men's clothing then wouldn't she?" Ryouga's eyes widened. Wait, PROBLEMS? PIGGY WIGGLY? How the hell did she know? An idea struck Ryouga like a ten ton truck and took his breathe away with its intensity. Could she, have a cure for his Junsenkyo curse?

"Can… can you help with ANY of those problems?"

Yuuko's smirk faded and she suddenly turned deadly serious. Her eyebrows knitted together and Ryouga could just FEEL power throbbing in the room. "I can, but the price for that wish would be more than you would want to pay. However, the matter is irrelevant. THAT is not why you are here today." She smiled and the teasing friendly woman returned once more.

Two little girls, one with pink hair and one with blue hair bounded into the room. Both carried a single long thin book over their heads. They skidded to a half in front of Yuuko and began to speak in unison.

"We brought it!"

"We killed some bugs!"

"And now it's got bug guts on it!"

"Bug guts!"

"Bug guts!"

The whole routine had a high 'What the fuck?' factor, but Ryouga was beyond the WTF factor by now. Ranma could have ran into the room in a wedding gown, declared he was having Kuno's baby, and Ryouga would have simply shrugged and asked 'Is it a boy or a girl?'

"There you are." Yuuko took the book from the freaky little girls, who laughed (STILL in unison) and skipped away. She turned to Ryouga and showed him the front of the book.

"This is what you're here for."

"A book?". How was a book going to… he squinted at the title. The Legend of: Ushinatte - The pop-up book version. Ryouga blinked. "A pop-up book?!"

Yuuko leaned back into her wicker chair. "This should be around your reading level."

"I can read! I don't need some freakin baby book!"

"Oh." Yuuko looked mock concerned. "So you don't want it then?"

Ack! Crap! He couldn't piss off the mysterious mystic lady! This was his last chance on his information hunt. He had no where else to go. "Yes." Ryouga gritted his teeth. "Yes I want it."

"Do you REALLY want it?"

"Yes!"

"Really really?"

"Yes!"

"Really really really?"

"Damn it yes! Just give it to me already!"

Ryouga paused in horror. That… they sounded like… Aw hell. He buried his burning face in his hands and waited to die from embarrassment.

"First I need you to do something for me."

Ryouga looked up and peeked through his fingers.

"I need." She leaned forward and Ryouga's eyes were drawn southward against his will. "YOUR BODY."

There was a pause.

"TO MOVE MY FURNITURE."

Ryouga fell over backwards.

"Watanuki, get a broom, and a dustpan! We finally got someone to move the furniture that your weak little girly arms could not budge!"

The rest of the insane household wandered into the room.

"I DO NOT have weak little girly—"

"Girly arms!"

"Girly arms!"

Ryouga sighed and stood up. That book SO better be worth it.

----

Ukyou was one of the few girls in the world that understood boys perfectly. Through the years of pretending to have a Y chromosome, she'd discovered a very simple rule about the male species.

Boys were dumb.

And they got even dumber when they reached puberty. Somewhere around the age of twelve or thirteen, they lost dozens of IQ points all at once, and spent the rest of their lives trying to gain back what they had lost. Sometimes, they never did.

That's what happened when you thought with the lower half of your anatomy.

She supposed that she was exaggerating a bit. There were a few more dimensions to them. Such as: "Boys were gross". But didn't that go without saying? If it came out of their body, or if they could pick at it until it bled, it was considered really cool. Bonus points were awarded to things that could do both.

So she wasn't surprised when her surveys came back with chocolate stains, doodles all over the margins, water smudged, some strange red stain she didn't want to examine too closely, and a few exotic smells.

It was enough to make a girl buy a hazmat suit.

Ukyou grasped the huge pile of papers, making sure to keep them as far away from her body as possible, and dropped them haphazardly into a cardboard box. Unfortunately, she couldn't find any anti-radiation lead lined ones, or even a box with a lid. Yuck, they better not leak anywhere or she was going to be pissed.

She caught a hint of a white bandanna above the heads of the passing people on the streets, near a bread stand across the street. That could be only one guy... Ha! And he was still wearing the bandanna she made him buy! This was perfect! She could force him to take the survey. After all, she needed a paper full of wrong answers to compare the other entries with.

"Hey! Ryouga! C'mere!"

He looked up and waved hesitantly, but nevertheless trotted over to her. She raised an eyebrow at his appearance. Talk about scruffy, the boy looked like he'd gotten in an attack with rabid dust bunnies and lost.

"Hey Ukyou." He stopped in front of her and stuffed a book back into his bag. Okay, that was weird. Ryouga... with a book? It must be a martial arts manual with really big pictures.

"What happened to you?"

Ryouga shrugged and scratched his head. "Eh, saved a family from a burning building a couple of days ago. Then this lady made me move dusty furniture..."

Ooookay. He was such a weirdo. "Why didn't you clean yourself up?"

Ryouga rolled his eyes. "Feh, what's the point? I'll just get dirty again."

Yes, boys WERE gross.

Ryouga looked at her oddly.

Ukyou straightened her girl's uniform. Here it comes. She knew what was going to happen. It was what always happens when a tomboyish girl wears a dress. He was going to 'just notice' she was a girl!

Ryouga raised an eyebrow. "You look... weird."

Clang!

"What was that for?!"

"You were supposed to notice that I'm a girl!"

"Huh? I already know you're a girl." Ryouga looked at her like she was insane.

Okay, so maybe she was off her rocker a bit. What was she so mad about? Sure, she would have rather heard "you look pretty today" or "Ukyou your beauty blinds me with its radiance"... ok so Ryouga would never say that, but whoever said a girl's mental fantasies had to be realistic?

Still... WEIRD was the best he could come up with? Jackass.

Ukyou's hand clenched around her spatula handle, then relaxed. "Oh just forget it dumbass. I need help with something. You're technically a man, so sit down and take my survey." She gestured to the chair in front of her folding table.

"Sorry Ukyou, but I'm kind of busy and..."

"Come on. It won't take long. I'll give you a free okonomiyaki." She tried to employ a puppy dog expression, but it settled somewhere at angry yippy dog.

"Will you... stop being mad at me? Ryouga looked down at the ground and put her puppy dog expression to shame.

Ukyou inwardly winced. Was he still upset about that? It's not like he did anything while in Akane's bed as P-chan... He didn't have the guts. And besides, it wasn't HER bed. Geez, he was more like a girl than she was.

"Yes, we'll be on good terms again. And you get free food."

Ryouga still looked slightly unconvinced. "Ok but... why do you want me to take a survey?"

Err... Ukyou said the first thing that came to mind. "It's National Survey Day."

"Whoa, really? Ok." Ryouga sat down.

Ukyou marked off the entire section on intelligence.

"Ok, first question. What do you want to be ten years from now?"

"Alive." Ryouga picked up his free okonomiyaki and started to munch on it.

Alive? He was really reaching for the sky wasn't he? "What are your hobbies?" She wrote in "trying to kill Ranma" before he opened his mouth.

"Trying to kill Ranma." Ryouga blinked. "Oh and fighting evil cults and attempting to change the hands of fate."

Ukyou stared. "You've been doing some interesting things in the last couple of weeks haven't you?

"Yeah."

"At least you're branching out." She made some marks on her paper. "Next question. What's your favorite color?"

"Yellow."

Ukyou smirked. "You know, yellow is considered the most annoying color in the spectrum."

Ryouga glared and swallowed another mouthful of okonomiyaki. "Who decided that?"

"I don't know... scientists... or artists... something like that. I heard it in class once."

Ryouga rolled his eyes and started to get up. "Listen, I'm busy so--"

"What's your blood type?" Ukyou grabbed his arm and forced him to sit back down.

"I dunno, is there a dragon blood type?"

Ukyou stared again. "Riiiiight. Moving on, what career are you planning on?"

"I'm a martial artist. You know that." Ryouga puffed out his chest.

"Oookay then." Ukyou wrote 'Unemployed Bum' under the question.

Ryouga glanced over at her paper. "Hey!"

"How many children do you want to have?"

Ryouga looked down and twiddled his thumbs. "I doubt I'd ever have anything like that..."

The okonomiyaki chef wrote 'performance problems' on the paper.

"I DO NOT HAVE PERFORMANCE PROBLEMS!" Ryouga tried to melt into the ground as people in the area began to stare. He continued in a softer tone. "I'm way manlier than Ranma or any other guy around here, thank you very much."

Ukyou wrote "overcompensation" under the question.

"Stop that!" Ryouga growled. "I don't have time for this. I'm leaving!" He grabbed his free okonomiyaki and turned to leave.

Ukyou wrote under the last question 'Takes the goods and leaves before he's finished'.

Ryouga swiped her pen.

"Give that back!"

But Ryouga had already disappeared around a corner and made a bee line for the bread stand. Guys! Honestly… and just fed him! Fine, let him go to the weird looking bread stand people. She glanced downward and cringed. The idiot had left his pack! Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline when she saw what book the jackass had actually been reading.

What the hell was he doing with a pop-up book?

Oh forget it, she was about to be late for a cooking club meeting. She didn't have time to worry about the idiot. Ukyou quickly packed up her belongings and hurried away. If she had stayed just a minute longer, she would have seen said idiot eat a piece of bread, pass out, and get carried away by the brand stand workers.

But she didn't, because Ryouga's luck really is that shitty.

----

The first thought he had upon waking was that he'd been kidnapped… again.

Actually, his first thought had really been 'that bread was mighty tasty' but he preferred to think he had a non-retarded thought upon waking.

Ryouga opened his eyes slowly. "Oww... uh... jeez those 100 hundred guys that took me down really did a number on me..."

Ranma snorted. "Oh shut up you bastard. I know you ate the bread too."

Oh, just freakin fantastic. Not only was he kidnapped, he'd been kidnapped with Ranma.

"Did NOT!"

Not only was Ranma also there, he was chained to Ranma with some kind of chi sapping chains. He could feel them just sucking out his energy.

Ranma rolled his eyes and sighed. "Yeah whatever. This sucks..."

"Feh, what are you worried about? I'm sure your hoard of fiancées will come to your rescue." Ryouga's brain struggled to come up with some kind of escape plan. Maybe he could gnaw off his own arm to escape? Keep pulling and hoping brute strength would rip the chains before he ran out of chi and collapsed? Scream like a girl and hope someone comes?

Ranma twisted towards his right arm as far as the chains would allow. "What hoard?! I dumped them all for Akane... And do you think Akane is strong enough to rescue us?!"

"...this sucks."

----

Next Chapter: Ryouga and Ranma attempt a daring escape while still tied together. With such forced proximity, will passions be ignited?! Will hate turn into love?!

Just kidding, that won't happen. Sorry yaoi fangirls. -

Ryouga: (spits out the cyanide pill he had been about to bite down on) "Heh, I knew you were kidding all along..."

C&C is nice, but comments with suffice. I'm not sure if I'll ever update this again, but this chapter has been sitting on my computer almost done for years. And by almost, I mean I literally put off writing two paragraphs for three years. How's that for procrastination? I wonder if I broke any records…


End file.
